


Pas de Deux

by LyriaSylvain



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/F, Fever, Fluff, Gem Fusion, Implied Sexual Content, Not Suitable/Safe For Work, Original Character(s), Reader-Insert, References to Illness, Romance, Sexual Content, Slow Burn, Suggestive Themes, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 11:50:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 61,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20778107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyriaSylvain/pseuds/LyriaSylvain
Summary: You love spending your summers in Beach City. You’ve come here since you were young, and have since befriended Steven and the Crystal Gems. You thought all Gem conflict had ended, and could finally spend a summer relaxing with your friends. However, your world flips upside down when a new Gem enters into the mix.





	1. A New Visitor

_ “Shit, I’m so fired!“ _

This is the only thought racing through your head as you bolt down the boardwalk on the way to your café job. It’s not glamorous, or particularly well-paying, but you’d been coming to Beach City every summer since you were a child, and you weren’t about to stop that tradition now that you were in you final year of college. You figured out a way to stay in town and earn some pocket money, so you were good to go.

_ “Not if I get fired for being late again...”  _ you groan internally and pick up the pace. Finally, you round a corner and bolt through the door, and behind the counter of the café, glancing at the time on the register. 

“20 minutes late, y/n...” your manager warns, giving you a side look as you head to the back of the store to get yourself collected.   
“How do you manage to be late when you live, like, 5 minutes away?”   
  
“It’s a talent?” You say, chuckling nervously before ducking to the back. At least it doesn’t seem like firing is on the table for today.

Once you’re up front and working, the day passes by like any other. You’d had an early shift, so when you break for lunch it’s right around 1 o’clock, a perfect time to sit outside and admire the beachfront view while sipping on your drink of choice. You glance down the boardwalk, past The Big Donut, to where Steven and the Crystal Gems live. You hadn’t really interacted with them much when you’d visited with your family as a child, but once you started coming over the summers by yourself, you’d slowly gotten to know them all.   
  
Steven had started off like a typical kid, but very quickly came to be a mature and thoughtful young adult, someone whom you looked up to. You didn’t know the full details of what had been happening out in space the past few years, but from what the Gems told you, he was doing amazing work. He was always so candid with his thoughts and feelings, and you found yourself wanting to spend time with him every summer you were working in Beach City. 

Garnet had intimidated you quite a bit at first; since you had mostly seen her around when the Gems were fighting something in town. But she seemed to come out of her shell as Steven got more involved in Gem goings-on, and every so often she stopped in the café with Steven and you found yourself at ease around her, content to talk about everything or nothing. She was a true leader.

Amethyst was your go-to  for nights out, especially since Little  Homeworld had popped up and more and more gems had begun moving in- Amethyst seemed to get along with all of them. You were a bit shy the first time she’d brought you over, especially since she already seemed  pretty close with some of them. You had met Lapis, Bismuth and Peridot a couple times, but they hadn’t really left the countryside until Little  Homeworld , and they’d been so busy building the past two summers you’d been in Beach City that you hadn’t gotten the chance to know them as well as you’d liked. But Amethyst had promised to change that soon, since construction was almost  done and she’d have time for hanging out again. You were really looking forward to that.

Pearl was, arguably, the gem you were closest to. You had a lot in common- a love of music and the arts, a very strong need to be clean and organized, and you were both rather emotionally open with each other, which was nice and refreshing. Even if there was a bit of a disconnect, with her being less familiar with human affairs, she was still your favorite person to see whenever you went over to the Temple. She had even agreed to start training you in self-defense this summer, just for fun- she knew you probably wouldn’t need it against any gem threats, but you thought it might be useful for human matters, at least. 

You smiled warmly down the boardwalk, as a peculiar sight pulled you from your reminiscing- Steven emerging from a newly pink Lars’ head. You sat up straight and leaned forward, trying to get a better look. You hadn’t seen Steven in a very long time, as he’d been traveling the universe with the diamonds, as Pearl had told you when you arrived this summer and found him gone.    
Garnet had arrived at the shop a few minutes earlier, and she pulled out a chair for Steven at the table of gems. You smiled warmly at the group, wishing you could go over and join them. But just as you thought that, the 2-minute warning you’d set on your phone went off, signaling that it was almost the end of your break time.

You sighed and stood up slowly, taking one last glance at the group by the Big Donut, where Steven was heading to the  newly installed warp that connected Beach City to Little  Homeworld . You hoped you could meet up with him later and catch up on all that had been going on the past couple years. 

The rest of your shift passed by without  much happening. You saw a couple new gems walk by outside the shop, but they didn’t come in, reminding you that not all gems ate everything in sight like Amethyst. You smiled to yourself at the thought, and glanced at the clock, eager to get off work and go visit everyone. 

Finally, it was time to go, clocking out once your replacement mid-day shift arrived. You said a quick goodbye to your coworkers and gathered your things, walking out the door into the hot sun. You took a deep breath of the salty sea air, and smiled to yourself.  Finally it was time to go catch up with everyone. You had seen them all rush down the boardwalk towards the temple a little while ago, from your position in the café, so you turned left and began to head over.

As you approached the beach, you glanced up towards the lighthouse, and a smile broke out on your face. Laying on the hill were your  four favorite people- Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Steven, and they all looked totally contented and relaxed. You started the trek up the rather large hill, but suddenly the sky darkened. 

All four of the Gems suddenly sat up, and from what little you could see of their facial expressions from this far away, they did not look relaxed any longer. In fact, they were all looking towards the sky...

Glancing up, your stomach  dropped and you scrambled back towards the base of Lighthouse Park, trying to put some distance between you and the very, very large object that was currently descending from the clouds. You knew that, at the very least, it couldn’t be any of the Diamonds Pearl had told you about- Steven had been helping them, teaching them to be good...there was no way they would attack the Earth now, especially after all he’s done.  So who...?

As the giant object neared the ground, a drill head emerged from the bottom of it, and with a thunderous boom, it inserted into the hill, right in front of your eyes. You stood in shock for a moment, until you realized you couldn’t see where Steven and the Gems were anymore.

_ Oh my god. What if...? _

You shook your head, willing away the burning sensation beginning in your eyes.  _ No,  _ you thought,  _ they’re fine. I’ll just... _

You glanced anxiously back towards Beach City, torn between wanting to get somewhere safe, and wanting to make sure your friends were okay. You turned back towards the hill and the giant injector, and started making your way up the hill, mentally preparing yourself to help in any way possible.

_ This damn hill is a lot steeper than I remember it being,  _ you think, as you push even faster, racing to try to get to them in time. Not that you even know what’s going on- you can’t hear or see anything, which worries you even more than if you heard fighting sounds.

Finally, you reach the injector, and you make your way around it. Just in time to see a menacing, stretchy pink Gem poof Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl.

You gasp quietly, still unsure if you should get involved. You know Steven is just as strong, if not stronger, than a lot of the Gems you’ve met. And  you’re full human, you can’t poof and come back...you decide to wait until you’re sure Steven  needs your help.

“That’s enough!” You hear him cry as he pulls his shield from his gem. 

“Aw, miss your friends already, Steven?” A  sickly sweet voice asks, prompting you to come out from behind cover to glance once again at the pink Gem.

“Well, don’t worry- _ you're right behind ‘ _ _ em _ _ !” _

She leaps forward, spinning towards Steven in an acrobatic display, the scythe-like weapon in her hand glowing menacingly. The weapon breaks through Steven’s shield and passes through him- he shudders and trembles, but you can see that he’s ultimately fine. 

“Hah! That was nothing!” He says triumphantly. You relax a little- he's half human, gem weapons don’t really  effect him . He could handle this on his own.

The other Gem chuckles menacingly, “Then I guess you won’t mind if I do it again!”   
  
She slices through him, laughing a high pitched maniacal laugh all the while. Though you know Steven is usually safe from...what was it they had called them? Gem destabilizers? You knew he was safe from those, but still...it couldn’t feel pleasant.    
  
“Cut it out!” Steven cried out, finally seeing a break in the attacks, and grabbed the scythe. 

The pink Gem narrowed her eyes, “You don’t poof, do you? Hmm. Figured as much.  _ Just wait!  _ Your human half won’t stand a chance against my injector...not after what I just did to your gem!”

With that, your eyes widened. Was she going to do something to him right now? What happened to Steven’s gem? You couldn’t just stand by and watch her hurt Steven.

“Hey!” You called out, trying to mask the  wariness in your voice. “Get away from him!” 

You stepped out from behind the injector, tried to remember every bit of training Pearl had given you thus far, and began to make your way over to them.

“Y/n, don’t!” Steven cried out, still struggling with his hold on the other gems’ weapon.   
  
“Well now, who is this, Steven? You didn’t introduce me to your little...ah, a human friend!” She grinned at you, her eyes going wide and bright pink. “ Sadly, you’ll have to wait a little while to reap the benefits of my lovely new toys. This ol’ thing here won’t do much to ya...but _that _will.”    
She gazed up at the giant pink injector that you had just walked out from. You had no idea what it did, but you really didn’t like what she was insinuating. 

With her focus momentarily elsewhere, Steven saw an opening and wrenched the scythe away from the invading gem.    
“Just...stop!” He yelled, and passed the weapon through her. She cackled manically, one half her body sliding down the other almost grotesquely- even though you knew she was only projected light, the sight still made your stomach turn. Finally, she poofed, and with a soft thud, fell to the ground.

“Ugh...” Steven groaned, falling to his knees. “Guess I should bubble her...”   
He tried to form his pink bubble, and failed. You furrowed your brows- you had never seen his powers do that in recent years, he’d had very good control over them for a while now. He tried once more and couldn’t even get anything to form this time.    
“What...?” he whispered softly, staring at his hands, and then looked over to the scythe.   
“Y/n, whatever that is...I think it did something to my gem. That’s not a gem destabilizer, it’s...something else.” 

You put a comforting hand on his back, and held out the other to help him stand.    
“No use worrying about it now... let’s just get everyone back to a safe area, and we can figure everything out when they all...come back. Maybe we could call Greg?”   
  
“Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. Let’s go back to my house,” he said softly, standing up and heading back down the hill. 

You threw a passing glance at the injector, tilting your head back to see the very top of it. It was full  with bright pink...stuff. Whatever that was,  it wasn’t  gonna be good.

Back at Steven’s house, you stood in the kitchen, watching Steven silently fret over his friends poofed gems. You could tell he was extremely worried, and wanted to give him some space. He was looking more and more anxious by the minute. Maybe you should say something...   
“Steven, I-”   
  
_“Steven!” _   
Just then, Greg burst through the door, and both you and Steven visibly relaxed. You may be older than Steven, but this Gem stuff is still fairly new to you, and Greg has been dealing with it for years. He would at least be able to comfort Steven more than you could. 

“I came as fast as I could. Are you guys ok?” He asked, glancing between you and Steven. If he was surprised to see you there, his expression didn’t show it.

Greg notices the Gems lying on the table, and his eyes widen. “Holy sh...she really got everybody! Is that her?”    
His gaze landed on the pink heart-shaped gem. You walked over to get a better look, now that the atmosphere was a bit less tense. The gem itself really was quite striking- multi faceted, very shiny, and _very _pink. 

“Yeah,” Steven answered his father.

“Who-?”

“No idea.”

“Why?!”

“No idea!”   
Steven sighed and sunk into the couch. You moved to sit next to him silently, wanting to offer your support, but not wanting to interject too much.   
  
“How?” Greg asked, seemingly too restricted by shock to ask more than one-worded questions.

“She hit all of us with this,” Steven answered, pulling the retracted scythe from his pocket. 

“Hey, I mean...at least it only  poofed them, right?” You chimed in, giving them both a halfhearted smile.

Steven shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t know if that’s all it did to them... It did something extra weird to me, my powers aren’t working right. Look at this!”   
He tries to summon his shield, and it blinks in and out a few times, before vanishing completely.

You furrow your brow, the pit of your stomach dropping. That’s definitely different. If it did that to Steven, what could it have done to the Gems...?   
Steven puts the weapon away, and puts his head in his hands. “I just have no idea what’s going on!” 

“Well son...now you know how I feel almost all the time.”   
  
You stifle a giggle- you can totally relate, and while it was an amusing comment...it makes you wonder if you might be truly in over your head here.   


“Hey, guys...” You start to say, and clasp your hands in your lap, avoiding their gaze. “I’m sorry if I’m making things harder or weirder by being here. I know there’s not a whole lot I can do with what limited training I have, especially not if _she _reforms and tries to attack us again...”   
You trail off, chancing a look at Steven and Greg.    


“No, I want you here!” Steven exclaims, startling both you and Greg. “Honestly, without you I don’t know if I would have been able to get the scythe away from her. Even if it was on accident, you arrived at just the right time and distracted her for me. And you’re better at fighting than you give yourself credit for!”

“Hah...thanks, Steven,” you say, letting out a sigh.  As long as he wanted you here and you weren’t getting in the way, you would stay to support your friends. 

The relaxed atmosphere didn’t last long. Surprisingly, Pearl- who, you had been told in the past, was often the last one to reform after being poofed- was the first Gem to begin glowing and floating in the air.

“Ah, good  ol ’ Pearl! She’ll know what to do!” Greg exclaimed, looking relieved. You were relieved as well; Pearl was your rock when things got tough in your personal life, and she always kept a level head during a crisis, for the most part. Once the other Crystal Gems reformed, they would be able to fight off the invading Gem easily. You smiled up at Pearl’s glowing Gem, waiting for her to reemerge. 

Instead, the sight that greeted you was rather...different. Instead of a glowing outline of Pearl, taking form to her normal self, a holographic oyster shone around the gem and began to speak.

“Please, identify yourself.”

“Um...Greg Universe?”

You glanced warily between Pearl and the Universes. As far as you knew, this had never happened before.    
  
“What’s going on?” You whispered to Steven, gazing back up at Pearl’s gem.

“I’m not sure,” he murmurs, “this...isn’t normal at all.”    
  
You gave him a sympathetic look, as Pearl continued speaking. “Greetings, Um-Greg Universe! Please state preferred customization options.”

Greg blanches, and looks to you and Steven for help. “Uh, what am I supposed to say here?”

“I don’t know,” Steven exclaims.    
  
“This is so weird,” you mutter, still staring at the floating holo-oyster.

“Default settings selected,” the gem says, “please stand by.” 

All three of you go wide-eyed as the gem flies to the middle of the room, and finally, Pearl emerges. Except...she looks different. Well, you knew they often changed their forms after being  poofed , so maybe she just wanted to try something new. Though, you had never really known her to be the  poofy sleeves and skirt type...

“Pearl!” Steven exclaims, ecstatic to have his friend back. “Pearl, thank goodness you’re back!”

But Pearl says nothing to Steven, seemingly not even noticing him, or you for that matter. She only has eyes for...

“How do you do? My Um-Greg Universe? Thank you for bringing me into the world.” Pearl takes Greg’s hand, and gazes up at him with what could only be described as devotion. She kneels in front of him and  continues, “ I am at your eternal service! Welcome to your new Pearl.”

You look over at Steven, who is staring at Pearl and his father in shock. 

_ Well,  _ you think,  _ this is certainly going to be interesting.  _


	2. Your New Best Friend

Eventually, all the Gems emerge, just as off and different as Pearl had been. Garnet hasn’t even reformed, and Ruby is patrolling back and forth near Sapphire, glaring at anyone who got near. Amethyst can only mimic people, and her hair was shorter; her limbs seeming almost like doll joints.   


“Steven, what is going on with them?” You ask, worry plain on your face. You had never seen any of the Gems poof, but you knew they didn’t usually come back like...this.

He doesn’t seem to hear you, his gaze focused on the newest Gem, who Pearl had called “Spinel” a few moments ago. She was entirely different from when she had first arrived. Her pigtails were now heart-shaped buns on the top of her head, her clothes were a white and light pink combination rather than the black and deep pink they were when she had landed. And perhaps the biggest change was that her heart shaped gem was no longer upside down. This was certainly strange, as you had never heard about gem positioning changing in between reforming. You’d have to ask Pearl...   


_“Oh, right,”_ you think sadly, _“she doesn’t have any clue who I am right now.”_   
You turn your attention to Steven and Spinel, tuning back in to their conversation.

“You!” Steven exclaims, rushing over to her and shaking her gently. “What have you done to us?”

Spinel giggles lightly and pokes him on the nose. “Boop! Hee hee, now it’s your turn!” 

She wraps her arms around Steven at least five times, lifts him into the air, and starts to shake him up and down vigorously with a rather vacant look in her eyes.

“Ah! Hey, uh...Spinel?” You say, gingerly placing a hand on her shoulder. “He doesn’t look like he’s enjoying that too much, hmm? Maybe you could put him down?” 

Spinel directs her gaze to the boy in her stretched arms, a worried look briefly flashing over her features before the vacancy returns.    
“Okay!” She exclaims cheerfully, and lets Steven fall out of her grip. He falls to the floor unceremoniously, landing on his face.

You move to check on Steven, who seems much weaker than usual. Before you can say anything, Spinel walks up between the two of you and points at the others.

“Hey look! There’s more Gems!”   
You blink in surprise, wondering how she’s only just noticing them for the first time.    
_“Well, if she’s really somehow supposed to be Steven’s best friend, maybe it’s a bit like Pearl’s sudden devotion to Greg...”_

You turn your attention to your group of friends, your heart sinking with every second you gaze at them. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Amethyst was going to take you to Little Homeworld tonight, you were finally going to spend some time with the “New Crystal Gems” as Bismuth, Lapis and Peridot had taken to calling themselves. You had been so excited...how did this get so twisted?   
_“Oh,” _you think snidely, _“right. Her.”_

The pink Gem standing on your left was now bouncing in place, a small grin plastered across her features. You have to work to stop returning her smile; her happiness seems almost infectious. You can almost forget that she caused all this mess in the first place with her bubbly persona brightening up the room every time she speaks   
“Let’s ask ‘em to play!” Spinel exclaims, referring to the Crystal Gems.

Steven turns to her, confusion plain on his face, “Wait, you mean you don’t remember?”

“Remember what?”

“Oh boy,” you sigh.    
Steven looks between Spinel and the Gems, and groans in frustration, “Just...everyone follow me!”   
He leads everyone to the base of Lighthouse Park, the Injector still perched smack dab in the center, the sickly pink liquid still bubbling occasionally. 

“Wowee!” Spinel exclaims, “That thing sure is big! You wanna climb it, or something?” She looks to you and Steven, and dances happily in place.    
You shake your head with a small smile. “No, Spinel. This Injector is...you brought it here. You said something about it hurting Steven’s human half...” You trail off and look at Steven, who’s standing to your left in between you and Spinel. “You really don’t remember bringing this, attacking us?”

Spinel squints at you and Steven, and one of her spindly arms twists on its way up to scratch her head.   
“Uh, I did what now?”

You and Steven sigh in unison, exchanging a glance of concern. If she really doesn’t remember, and the Gems are out of commission, this was looking  pretty bad . Who knew what that stuff was going to do to Beach City? To the Earth? And as far as you knew, the Cluster was still in the planet’s core, albeit bubbled by Steven. But still, that hadn’t stopped it from activating when the Diamonds had come during Garnet’s wedding. You hadn’t been around for that, as it had been May and you had still been finishing up your college finals, but from the story the Gems had told  you , it had certainly been an epic fight. If the Cluster had partially formed from the Diamonds arriving on the surface, who’s to know what would happen if something was injected down to the core?

You turn to Greg, trying to keep thinking positive for Steven’s sake. Greg seems too preoccupied with Pearl right now, or at the very least, trying to get Pearl to stop staring at him.    
Suddenly, Lion walks down from the hill, and you smile; Lion always cheers Steven up when he’s feeling down.

“How about you Lion, what do you think of all this?” Steven asks his companion, giving the animal a hug. After a moment, he pulls away, a confused look on his face.   
“Ugh, what now...” he mumbles, and pulls out Spinel’s weapon from earlier. “Please please please...”

He pushes the retracted scythe against Lion’s mane and  lets go, the weapon falling to the sand with a soft thud. You look between him and Lion in concern- you've seen Steven  actually jump into Lion before, and store assortments of random objects for later. If he can’t access that power, then...

“What? I can’t store things in Lion’s mane now?! That’s like the easiest thing I do!” Steven exclaims, interrupting your worried thoughts. His shoulders sag for a moment, and he picks up the weapon. 

“Y/n, Dad, what do I do? I’ve got no Gems to help me...except...”   
He turns towards Little Homeworld, and realization flashes across his face. 

“Oh, duh!” He exclaims, slapping his forehead lightly. “Bismuth, Lapis and Peridot! C’mon guys, let’s go figure out how to fix this!”

You start to follow Steven and Spinel, the latter of whom was bounding after Steven with carefree laughter. You turn after a few steps, as does Steven, realizing you don’t hear anyone else following.   


“Uh, guys? Greg?” You ask, taking a couple steps back towards the other group.

“Oh, Um-Greg! Allow me!” Pearl insists, stopping Greg before he could follow you and Steven. She materializes an umbrella from her gem and holds it out over Greg.    
“Uh...” He starts, holding out his hands in protest. Amethyst suddenly shape-shifts into Greg, which momentarily confuses Pearl; she switches the umbrella back and forth between the two versions of Steven’s dad. 

“R-Ruby? Sapphire?” Steven calls out, sounding more worried by the second.

“She’s not going anywhere with you!” Ruby yells, taking up a defensive stance in front of Sapphire.   
  
“I...do see us following him to the country-side,” Sapphire remarks, and begins to walk towards Steven, nodding to you as she passes.

“Never mind! We’re going...” Ruby says reluctantly , and rushes ahead to Sapphire, who has already surpassed the group.

“Wait! Don’t leave me alone with these two!” Greg calls out, glancing worriedly at Pearl and Amethyst, who still hasn’t shifted back to her regular form.

“Steven, do you want me to stay with them?” You ask, trying to be as much help as you possibly can be. Spinel's face darkens and she moves closer to you, but avoids looking directly at you.   
  
_“What’s that about...” _You think, glancing to the pink Gem.

“Dad can handle Pearl and Amethyst. They’re harmless, and he knows them, so he’ll be fine. I just... Kinda want another human around while we figure everything out, especially since Connie can’t be here.”

Your gaze softens, and you remember that Steven really is just a teenager. An extraordinary teenager who has done countless good deeds for the Earth and for the universe as a whole, but a  teenager nonetheless. You can’t imagine how  off - putting it must be to not be able to control his powers anymore, and to have no idea how to solve the mess Spinel has caused.

“Yeah, dude, I have your back,” you say with a reassuring pat to Steven’s shoulder. “Lead the way! I was supposed to see Bismuth and the others tonight anyway, so I’m all set for however long this ends up taking.”

The group opts to make the trek to Little  Homeworld , foregoing the warp for now. Steven said that part was still under construction, and though he’d used it earlier today, he didn’t know if it had been installed yet. He didn’t want your whole group to walk off the warp pad and fall 50 feet. That was fine with you- you'd only warped a couple times, when Pearl wanted to explain some Gem battles or train you in the Sky Arena. You still hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it, and it always took you a couple minutes after warping to feel regular again. You wanted to have all your wits about you for today, and with the Injector looming above the town doing who knows what to the Earth, you  definitely need a clear head.

After the slightly long walk to the town, Steven found the three “New Crystal Gems” on top of one of the buildings still under construction. Bismuth was always hard at work, and you really admired her work ethic with everything she does, even if she can get a bit intense about it sometimes.

Steven leads your group over to a small lift on the side of the building, and you all make the  slow ascent. You glance over at Steven, who’s doing his best to not look utterly defeated.

“Hey dude, you all right?” You ask softly.

“Yeah, I... well, no,  honestly I’m not, Y/ n ,” Steven answers honestly. “I’m so worried abou t the Gems, and I’m even more worried about that  _ thing,”  _ he gestures to the Injector, “and I just want this to be over so I can get back to my happily ever after. Everything was going so well...” 

“Hey, it’s okay not to be all right,” you say sympathetically, “I’m worried as hell too. And I can't even really do anything to help...”

“You’re helping right now,” Steven says with a kind smile. 

You return his smile as the lift reaches the top. The three Gems don’t seem to notice your group immediately; they’re gazing out over Little Homeworld, lost in conversation. 

Steven calls out to get their attention, "Bismuth, Lapis, Peridot! Guys, I’m really glad to see you.” 

The group turns, and Peridot’s face lights up. “Steven! And Y/n, too, hi! Look, now Little Homeworld is 91.4% complete!”   
  
Steven gives her a weak smile, “That’s...great Peridot, really. But I think you guys should take a look at something...”

He gestures back towards Beach City and the Injector with a grim look on his face. You walk to the side of the building with them as Peridot pulls out binoculars from a box and stares at the Injector.

“She rode in on  _ that?!”  _ Peridot exclaims, lowering the binoculars and looking at you and Steven in disbelief.

“Yeah...she said my human half wouldn’t stand a chance against her Injector,” Steven replies.

“What does that mean?” Lapis asks, exchanging a look with Peridot as Bismuth walks back towards Ruby and Sappire.   
  
“No idea,” Steven replies, “but if it’s something that will hurt my human half, then it can’t be good for Y/N, or the rest of Beach City either...”

“Why don’t we just ask her?” Peridot asks, looking around for Spinel.

You look around as well- you haven’t seen her since you got to the top of the building; where could she be? Did she remember something and run off to attack Pearl and Amethyst? You start to panic, until she pops up from behind Steven yelling, “Surprise!”

You roll your eyes, fighting back a small smile. She  definitely hasn’t remembered anything yet, and in this form she’s still rather endearing. If a bit annoying...

“Here she is...my new best friend, Spinel,” Steven says with a sigh, presenting the Gem to the others.

“A pleasure to meet you all,” Spinel says with a flourish and a bow. She glances up at you staring at her and giggles and winks. 

_ “What...?” _

Before you can think too much about it, Bismuth interrupts your thoughts. “I thought you said she was just trying to kill you?”

“Wow, quick turn around,” Lapis says with a  mischievous look in her eye.

“No kidding! It took me months to stop trying to kill Steven,” Peridot remarks.

“Eh, for me it was a day, day and a half,” Bismuth jokes, grinning at her friends.

“I’m  _ still  _ on the fence,” Lapis says, which causes the group to burst into laughter. You giggle along, momentarily forgetting the dire situation. You had a feeling that once this was all over, you were really going to love getting to know this group. They seemed like such great friends, and it felt like you and Amethyst would blend in easily whenever you all got together.

“ All right, let's see this thing she hit you with,” Peridot says, turning to you and Steven with a determined look on her features. You step aside, moving next to Spinel so Steven and Peridot can have some space to examine the weapon.

“ Psst ! Hey, you! What’s  goin ’ on?” Spinel asks in a loud whisper, tugging on your arm.

You look down to your left. She’s shorter in this form, and though you’re about average height, she’s still a couple inches shorter than you, her heart-shaped buns just reaching the middle of your face. 

You give her a small smile and reply, “Well, you don’t remember, I guess, but you brought that weapon they’re examining, so we’re trying to figure out what it is and what it did to everyone.” You gesture towards Ruby and Sapphire. “Those two don’t normally...look or act like this, and we want to get everyone back to normal so we can help save Beach City. We don’t know what the Injector you brought does...but we want to stop it before anything bad happens.”

Spinel stares up at you, intently listening to every word. “Ooh, I get it! Ok, I’ll help too!” She exclaims, standing up straighter and puffing her chest out slightly. You giggle, finding her posturing rather cute. She may still not have any clue what was going on, but at least she’s trying.

Spinel grins, glancing at you from the side, not moving from her important helpful position.    
  
_“She seems happy that she made me laugh,” _you think fondly, returning her smile. 

Just then, Bismuth snatches the scythe from Peridot, who had been holding it up to her eye. You jump in surprise, turning your attention back to the conversation.

“Be careful with that!” She warns, “It’s a  rejuvenator .”

Pressing on the button, Bismuth displays the weapon for everyone, carefully holding it out at arm's length. You flash back to a few hours ago, when the innocent Gem to your left had been attacking your friends and causing them to forget you. You furrow your brow at the thought, your heart feeling sad again. You can’t allow yourself to get so caught up in Spinel’s games that you forget what she’s done, even if she’s forgotten herself.

Bismuth continues her explanation. “ Homeworld used to use these things on Gems that started  steppin ’  outta line. One hit with this...you’re back to how they made you,” she finishes, gazing down at Ruby and Sapphire sadly.

“What are  _ you _ looking at,” Ruby says, holding out a protective hand in front of her Sapphire.

Your eyes widen as Bismuth’s explanation sinks in- the Gems, your friends...they really  _ were  _ reset. They had no idea who you were, where they were, and- 

“Oh, Steven,” you say kindly, placing a tentative hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

“ Oh my stars, I  _ touched it!” _

You turn to Peridot at her outburst, a disbelieving look on her face.

“I could have lost all my character development!” 

You snort, trying to hold in laughter. Peridot was  definitely funny as hell, whether she tried to be or not. Suddenly, a thought strikes you.

“Wait...how did you survive being hit by the rejuvenator, Steven? I know you’re only half Gem, but still...”

He furrows his brow, but then a look of realization comes over him. “I...I think I didn’t,” he answers, “My human half kept me from poofing, but- but my Gem half, it took the hit! She sent me back; it’s like I’m a kid again! I can barely control my powers...how do we reverse this?”   
  
Steven looks frantically between you and the New Crystal Gems, searching for answers. Bismuth holds out the retracted weapon and places it back in Steven’s hand. You meet his eyes, trying to reassure him with a look. But you don’t have any answers for him. You wrap your arms around your middle, trying to hold it together for him. For everyone. You know you can’t do much, not to the extent that a Gem or even Connie can do, but you can at least be emotionally strong for your friends. 

“You’re the one with healing powers...” Lapis says softly, “If anyone can fix this, it’s you.”

“I can’t believe this...for the first time in years, everyone’s in danger, everybody needs me! And I’m useless!” Steven glances  worriedly at the Injector, and then at Spinel, who hasn’t left your side since she made you laugh. 

He turns towards Bismuth and asks, “What do we do?”   
  
“I’m sorry, Steven...I don’t know.”

You turn to Bismuth in shock. Even she doesn’t  know? And she knew what the weapon was...but has no way to fix it. 

Things were looking grim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, chapter 2! Now with less tense switching. I gotta get better at that.  
I hope you all enjoy!  
This fic is a slow burn, but things will pick up soon, I promise. It won't just be a rewrite of the movie, either! It will be up to a certain point, but after that things will change drastically and that will be the bulk of the fic. 
> 
> Let me know what y'all think!


	3. Puzzle Pieces

“Don’t be sad, your new best friend Spinel is here!”

Spinel has been trying to get Steven to smile for a minute now- the pink Gem cheers and dances for Steven, but his eyes look far away, lost in thought.

“Here we are in the future, and it’s wrong...” Steven laments to himself. You can only look on sadly as he pulls out his phone, gazing at a selfie he took with the Gems earlier. “Happily ever after, there we were...”

You move to comfort him, or talk to him,  _ something  _ to erase the morose look he has on his face. Seeing him like this hurts- he's been through so much and you hate to think what will happen if the Crystal Gems never remember him...or you, for that matter. You were part of this group too, even if you only visited during the summer.

Before you can say anything to your friend, Bismuth moves past you and extends a hand to Steven.    
“When has it ever been easy? Hasn’t it always been hard to be us? That’s why we’ve got to have each other; we’ll figure this out together! We are the Crystal Gems!”

You smile, and your eyes dart to Spinel, who is watching the exchange with wide eyes. You can’t help but recall how different her eyes were just hours ago- flashing pink, wild with anger and  clearly hurt about...something . Now they’re shining and dark- innocent, joyful, but not vacant like earlier. She’s observing everything that’s going on happily, content to sit on the sidelines and let her “best friend” work though things. Other than the outburst a moment ago, she’s been rather quiet the whole time you’ve been in Little  Homeworld . She must  really not be sure what to make of all of this...you couldn’t imagine what it must be like for her. What it must be like for any gem, really- to wake up in a strange world, somehow knowing your life’s purpose before you’ve even lived a life. No wonder the Crystal Gems broke away from that régime; it sounds so suffocating to you. 

You let your attention drift back to Steven and Bismuth, still worried for the boy but feeling rather uplifted by Bismuth’s empowered words. She’s reassuring him that they’ll get the Gems back to how they were, even if it takes a thousand years. 

“Believe me Steven, I’ve known them longer- I've seen them get through worse and come back stronger!” She says enthusiastically, guiding him to the lift and motioning for everyone to follow. Next to you, Spinel’s eyes light up and she grabs your arm, tugging you forward with her. You hold back a grin and rush towards the group, content with being led by the smaller pink Gem.  Somehow, she has charmed you for the time being, and you aren’t quite sure how that happened. But it gives you hope that if she eventually does remember her past, she might be more forgiving the next time around. 

As the lift nears the ground, Bismuth leaps off to rush to one of the finer details you assume she’s been working on- a mold of a star in the ground, surrounding the warp pad. She pulls a pot of bubbling gold over into the mold, and gestures to the golden star that’s forming.

“We are the Crystal Gems! We’ll never give up!”   
  
Steven’s eyes brighten and he nods along, as the rest of the group steps off the lift. You glance over at Spinel; she’s still just watching and taking everything in. Idly you wonder why she’s not joining in the encouragement- is she uncomfortable around all these new people? Although you suppose everyone is new to her. You can’t help feeling sympathy for her in this situation, though. After all, you’re staying to the sidelines as much as she is, mostly because you feel that the new CG’s will know what to say more than you would. This sort of stuff is their whole life, after all. You’re just along for the ride...   


_ “Why do I keep getting so distracted thinking about her?”  _ you wonder,  _ “She’s the reason we’re in this mess. I really need to stop forgetting that...” _

When you focus your attention back to the present, Lapis and Peridot have joined in with the encouragement.    
“We’ll find a way!”

Steven grins at his friends and claps his hands together once, looking much more confident and determined than earlier

“Okay! Let’s put our heads together. There’s  gotta be some way to make them remember,” he remarks, turning to look at Ruby and Sapphire. Next to you, Spinel takes a small jump forward and suggests something.

“What if it’s like a puzzle? If we give ‘ em all the pieces...eventually they’ll get the picture!”

“Steven, that could work!” You say with awe in your voice. “Based on Pearl’s...regeneration...it seems like their Gems function as like, organic computers? Or something similar, and very beyond my comprehension. But if it’s like our hard drives, the memories could still be in there somewhere!”

“Spinel...Y/n... You might be onto something!” Steven smiles back at the both of you, grateful for your input. “If every experience they lost is a piece of who they are, we just have to give them back all the pieces! One experience at a time!”

Spinel takes a small step back and smiles up at you, looking very proud of herself. You give her a small smile back, thankful that her idea might  actually have some chance of working. Or at least, Steven seems to think so, and you’re happy to defer to his expertise on these things.

“Are you serious?” Lapis exclaims in response to the idea.

“That could take forever!” Peridot agrees.

“Exactly!  So let’s get started!” Steven says, gazing out at the group. You can’t help but share in his enthusiasm. If this works then everything can be fixed again, Steven can have his family back, and you can have your friends back. 

“Yeah, let’s do this!” You exclaim, rushing forward to join the gathered group. After a moment, you turn back and motion Spinel forward as well. Although she’s the reason for the problem, she also seems to have come up with the solution, and you can't imagine Steven holding anything against her for too long if everything turns out all right in the end. You’re certainly thankful for her in this moment.

Spinel giggles at your request, and stretches one leg forward, a teasing look in her eyes.

“Oh, c’mon Spinel,” you laugh, “you know what I meant. Get over here!”

Her face softens, and her eyes turn from mischievous to gentle and almost shy.

“A-All right,” she says softly, and springs the rest of her body forward to join the group. She clings to Steven’s arm like before, re - assuming her position as his “best friend”.

Steven looks over to Ruby and Sapphire, the former of whom is patrolling back and forth in a line, constantly observing her surroundings for any signs of danger to her charge.

“Okay, so...when Ruby and Sapphire first became Garnet, Ruby rushed in to save Sapphire from danger, and boom- they fused.  So maybe we  gotta create some sort of dangerous situation?”

“Well...” Lapis muses, what do we have that’s deadly and dangerous lying around?”   
She looks to Peridot, who you assume probably keeps track of many random assorted objects.

Sure enough, she answers, “I think we can dig something up!” And with that, she heads over to a giant dumpster, full of construction tools and other things that you’re not sure why she has.

Spinel and Steven rush forward to help her look, but  you’re content to stay back from all the sharp tools Peridot has begun throwing out of the container. You’re  definitely not as resilient as a Gem- no  poofing and coming back for you.  So you watch bemusedly as the three look for something  to threaten Ruby and Sapphire with.

“This can only end well,” _ _ you comment to Bismuth and Lapis, folding your arms and smirking. They chuckle in return, exchanging a look that you assume means they agree, knowing Peridot like they do.

Eventually, Peridot produces a giant weapon, and exclaims, “Ah ha!”

“A giant pizza cutter?!” Steven gasps, stepping back in alarm, “I can’t threaten them with this!”

Spinel stares at the object in awe, obviously never having seen anything like this before. Which makes sense; she has technically only existed for a few hours, at least as far as she remembers. 

“That is one of its functions, yes, “Peridot replies. “But here!” She pushes a button on the side of the weapon, and it begins to spin menacingly.    
“Now it’s much more threatening!”

Steven gulps, and starts to walk towards the two reset Gems, staring up at the spinning wheel cautiously.

“Steven, please be careful!” You call out, following him in case something  was to happen. 

After a moment, Ruby notices Steven approaching her and Sapphire, and immediately takes a defensive stance in front of her charge.

“Halt! I cannot allow you to approach my Sapphire with such a threatening device,” she warns.

“That’s too bad, cause I’m  gonna _ get you!”  _ Steven cries out, raising the device over his head.

You wince, wondering if he’s  actually going to attack his family like this. Spinel walks up next to you and clutches your arm suddenly. You jolt, surprised at the sudden contact. She looks slightly worried, staring at Steven and the weapon with concern.

“Ah, Spinel, are you all right?” You ask, after seeing her expression. “Don’t worry, I think it’ll be all right. He’s probably just faking it.”

Sure enough, after Sapphire predicts he’ll back down, he does. He turns off the weapon and turns around, a crestfallen expression on his face. 

“I can’t do it! Even if we are just pretending,” Steven says sadly. He walks back to the New CG’s, who are standing near the dumpster of tools. Spinel lets go of you as you turn to follow him, eager to keep planning something else to try.

You face the group, the five of you circling around near the dumpster, ready to brainstorm. None of you take notice that Spinel has picked up the now still weapon off the  ground and begun to investigate it.

“Well, maybe we should try...” Bismuth starts to say, before a whirring noise interrupts her. Spinel has turned the giant pizza cutter shaped weapon back on, and she’s quickly losing control.

“No, Spinel, wait-!” Steven calls out, but it’s too late. The weapon is spinning away from her, pulling her along with it.

“Oh my gosh,” you gasp out, worried for Spinel. You know if it hits  her she’ll just poof, but even then there’s no telling how long it would take her to regenerate. Not to mention the damage she could cause if it gets even more out of control-!

Without thinking, you ready yourself to catch her as she passes by, her small frame now being entirely pulled along by the spinning weapon. 

“Y/n, what are you doing?!” Steven exclaims, looking on in disbelief. But you know you can do this; Pearl’s training has taught you to be quick and calculated when need be. You can anticipate the timing needed to jump onto Spinel and pull her away from the danger, you just need an opening...

There! The weapon has turned course, bringing Spinel passing by the group again. You leap forward, grabbing her and rolling to the floor less gracefully than you would have liked, but it got the job done. 

“Are you okay?” You ask Spinel, who ended up lying next to you. She nods, still a bit shaken up from the abrupt journey she just went on.

You flatten out onto your back, close your eyes, and let out a sigh. At least that’s over now. Then why do you still hear the saw spinning? You open your eyes and gasp, jolting to your feet as quickly as you can. The saw is now flying up the building you had come down from, the one still under construction.

“My scaffolding, my precious scaffolding!” Bismuth cries out, powerless to stop the destruction happening before her eyes. You can’t do anything but watch, not thinking about moving away from the danger- but Spinel is. She grabs you and Steven and pulls you back away from the building

“Gah-!” You cry out, surprised at the sudden yank around your middle. Your eyes widen as you’re dragged back next to Spinel and Steven, grateful for her intervention. Just as you’re about to speak, a piece of debris falls onto the spot you had just been standing.

“Spinel...woah. Thank you,” you say breathily, “I guess we’re even now?”

She giggles loudly and replies in a sing-song voice, “You’re welcome!”

Not able to do much else but watch, you stay back with Steven and Spinel as the scene unfolds before you. Peridot, Lapis and Bismuth are doing their best to hold the building together, Peridot with her metal telekinesis, Lapis with some water from nearby, and Bismuth with sheer strength. One side of the scaffolding collapses entirely, but the three of them contain the debris and everything seems safe.

“Is it...over?” Spinel asks, walking closer to the building again.

Suddenly, Sapphire cries out from where she and Ruby had been standing, “The saw! The saw will continue to cut!”

Sure enough, you all look up, and the saw is continuing along the side of the building, curving towards some heavy looking material. You gasp as the blade cuts into rope and embeds itself in a log, finally stopping. 

“The anvil will fall, and you- you will be shattered!” Sapphire cries out to Ruby. 

“Huh?” Ruby questions, clueless to the anvil that has just dropped.

“Oh my god, Ruby!” You yell, on the verge of tears. She can’t be  _ shattered, _ can’t Bismuth or Lapis or Peridot-

Steven interrupts your train of thought with a thrown shield, only just catching the anvil above Ruby. But he’s straining to hold it together, sweat is beading on his face and all his concentration is on keeping the shield from disappearing. 

“The curly-haired one’s power is fading!” Sapphire calls out to her guard, “Ruby, I’m sorry! I told you, you wouldn’t last the day!”

Ruby seems to have accepted her fate, as her voice is calm as she says, “Well, I’m glad fate allowed me to meet you!”   
  
And with that, the shield shatters.

“NO!” Steven shouts, hand extending towards his family. 

Among the falling pink fragments, you glimpse Sapphire rushing under the anvil towards Ruby, and you avert your eyes, unable and unwilling to watch two of your friend’s lives end. But suddenly, a flash of light makes you turn back towards them. Is this-?

You grin as Garnet comes into view, gleeful at the prospect that the Crystal Gems’ fearless leader might  actually be back. But your heart swiftly sinks as you recognize the confusion plain on her  face, and take note of her odd color scheme- this is  definitely not the Garnet you’ve come to know.

Steven doesn’t seem to notice yet, and rushes forward yelling her name with arms outstretched. She swiftly backs away from him as he goes in for a hug, leaving Steven falling flat onto the ground. Even still, he doesn’t falter.

“Thank goodness it’s you!” He says, looking up at the newly formed Gem.

“W-what’s going on?” She says in a light tone, looking around in confusion.

“Everyone’s memories are  wiped and my powers are all messed up and we need your help! What should we do, Garnet?”

With each explanation he makes, he takes a step towards Garnet, and she steps back from him in fear.

Your brows furrow and you call out, “Steven, I don’t think...”

You trail off as Garnet begins to speak. “I’m sorry, but...do you know me?”

Even from behind, you can read the disappointment that washes through Steven. His shoulders sag, and his posture once again looks defeated.

The group walks up to join him, and you place a n arm around his shoulder, trying to be a reassuring presence. 

“Her memories aren’t back...I guess fusion was only the first piece,” Steven says quietly. 

In the distance, a loud horn diverts the groups attention from Garnet, who looks grateful for the distraction. You turn to see Greg’s van rolling up, and you relax. You always feel better when Greg is around for Gem related stuff- being the only other human can be exhausting sometimes.

You raise your eyebrows in surprise when Pearl steps out of the drivers’ seat. 

_ “I guess driving is an innate skill for gems, somehow...?” _ You ponder, as she places a small set of stairs at the back of the van and literally rolls out a red carpet. You hold back a chuckle, as do Peridot and Lapis. Even though it’s not exactly pleasant to see your rebellious friend reverted to her old ways of being a servant, the extravagance she’s presenting is still 100% Pearl. Always the theatrical one, she is.

To further drive home your point, Pearl materializes  a small trumpet from her gem and plays an announcing tune.

“Attention, everyone! Um-Greg Universe has arrived!”

Greg bursts out from the back of the van, stomping over Pearl’s delicately laid out carpet.

“Steven!” He cries, rushing over to his son. You step slightly to the side, nudging Spinel away as well, trying to give the family some space.

“Have you seen Amethyst?” Greg continues frantically.

“What? I told you to watch her!” Steven answers.

“She must have wandered off as I was wrestling my laundry out of Pearl’s hands...” Greg replies, sounding defeated. He turns back to the van as he notices Pearl has begun to  was h a tire. “You don’t need to do that  Pearl, I own a car wash!”

Steven rolls his eyes and turns back towards the group. 

“I need to go find Amethyst...can you guys watch Garnet?” He asks you and Bismuth .

“Yeah, sure,” Bismuth answers easily, “but it looks like she’s doing a pretty good job of watching herself.”

You to glance at the newly formed Gem, who is indeed examining her new body with wonder, poking and prodding at her unfamiliar limbs. You suppose it must be strange to be a fusion for the first time...you wouldn’t know. Even though Steven and Connie had explained some of what it felt like to be human and fused, you couldn’t fathom it. And you’d never really had the opportunity to try with anyone. Not even Pearl, whom you were closest with. You felt it was a bit...intimate. Oh, you’d had a crush on Pearl once, sure, back when you first started staying in Beach City during the summers by yourself. And once she had suggesting training with her the crush had intensified, but  ultimately you’d gleaned from many talks that she was learning to be happy without a partner in that regard, and you wanted to respect that.  So you’d gotten over it, and you were perfectly happy now just being close friends. But still, fusion was something you’d like to experience one day, if possible...

Steven nods and thanks Bismuth and the others, rushing back towards Beach City. Out of nowhere, Spinel stretches towards his retreating figure and grabs on, propelling herself towards him and stopping Steven in his tracks.    
  
“Don’t forget your best friend Spinel!” She says with a wink.

“Oh, right. Spinel, you stay here with the others, and I’ll be...right back!” He says gently, letting go of her hand.

Her eyes widen as she looks down at her empty palm, a look of horror flashing across her face.

_ “NO!”  _ She screams out. You jump at the sound; you didn’t think she could even get that angry. 

“Spinel!” You call out quickly, moving forward to stand next to her. “Hey, how about you stay here with me? Steven might need to move quickly, and he knows the area and knows Amethyst better than any of us do. We could hang out and chat while we wait!”

You smile at her with what you hope to be a comforting gaze. The quicker Steven can find Amethyst the better, and you know Spinel might make things more difficult. Besides, you’d rather keep her where everyone can help out if something goes wrong. And if that little outburst is anything to go by, she might still be dangerous and angry in this form...

You glance over Spinel’s head at Steven for confirmation that this is ok, and he nods in response. After a moment, Spinel turns around to face you.

“Yay, let’s do that!” She replies gleefully, wrapping her arm through yours instead. Steven relaxes, and rushes off without another word. 

“He must really be worried about Amethyst,” you mutter to yourself. You lead Spinel back to the others, who have circled up to discuss the situation once more.

“Hey guys, I know I’m just a human, but let me know if I can help out in any way, okay?” You say, “I really want to be of use.”

Bismuth grins at you, looking grateful for the offer of help. “Well, right now we’re just trying to figure out some  equipment we might need to go check out the injector. We figure if Steven’s on the memory thing, we can at least try to figure out a way to slow the injector down. While we gather that stuff, maybe you can watch over Garnet? You can help Y/n too, Spinel,” she adds as an afterthought.

You nod, determined to do your part. “Yeah, that sounds fine! I don’t have anywhere to be,” you joked, reassuring the Gems that you weren’t going anywhere.

“Spinel, want to sit for a bit?” You ask, walking over to a concrete block pile nearby. You need to take a bit of a rest, and from here you can still see everything going on.

“Sure!” Spinel cheers, plopping down next to you and humming cheerfully while gazing out at the town. You smile to yourself at her bright personality, and pull out your phone, glancing up every now and then to check on Garnet.

After a moment, you feel Spinel watching you and your device, peering over your shoulder in curiosity. 

“Whazzat?” She asks, pointing to the phone.

“Heh, not too sure how to describe this one...” You answer, “But uh, it’s basically something that lets me keep in touch with people even if they’re far away. Oh! And it’s a camera!” 

You open the camera app and hold it out in front of you, capturing a small portion of Little Homeworld. You hold it out for Spinel to see, and her eyes go wide with wonder.

“Woah...that’s cool!” She exclaims, grinning from ear to ear.

You’re sure that Homeworld has camera-like devices, so it’s odd that she’s so enamored by your little phone.    
_“Ah, the reset,”_ you think, rolling your eyes at yourself. You realize that she wouldn’t remember ever being on Homeworld. _“I can’t believe I keep forgetting.”_

“Hey, Spinel, let me show you something else,” you say, taking the phone back from the Gem. You switch the camera to front facing and hold it out in front of you two. “Look, it’s us!”

Spinel gazes up at the reflected portrait, making funny faces every now and then. You decide to capture a few pictures together, just for fun. After a little longer, you put the phone away again, and gaze out over Little  Homeworld , and Beach City.

“I love it here,” you tell Spinel quietly, just voicing your random thoughts out loud. “I love the beach, the sound of the waves, the smell of the air. The peacefulness in the mornings at my job, people just waking up and getting their coffee. But more than that I love how  _ unique _ this place is, with all the Gems. As far as I know, there are no Gems anywhere else on Earth now that the corrupted Gems are...better. I love the fact that I can glance outside my window and see two entirely different species of people cohabiting the same town. I love that people are just...accepted here, no matter who they are or what they’re like.”

You glance over at Spinel, who’s staring out at the town as well, an unreadable expression on her face.   
You continue, “After all this is over...I’m sure there will be a place for you too, Spinel. We can get your memories back, and... work through whatever happened to make you angry.”

Spinel’s brows crease, and she turns her head away from you. 

“I still don’t remember  anythin ’,” she mumbles, “but I’m happy I’m here now.”

You smile  softly, and nudge her with your shoulder. 

“Hey. Me too.”

You sit in silence again, checking in on Garnet every so often, who is alternating between looking at herself and looking around at Little  Homeworld . 

Eventually, Bismuth, Peridot and Lapis head back over with lots of  equipment in tow.

“Okay! We’re ready to analyze the injector thingy!” Peridot says confidently. You nod and stand up, stretching a moment to get back into Save-The-Earth mode.

“All righty, let’s go!” You exclaim, and begin to follow the group, with Spinel by your side.

** _ x * _ ** ** _ x * x * x * x  _ **

You make your way through the town, opting to walk instead of warp because of all the equipment, and not wanting to try to keep track of Garnet in the warp stream. A feeling of unease washes over you as you get closer to the giant injector perched on the hill. Being so close to it, it’s hard to forget that Spinel brought this to Earth in the first place. You’re constantly torn between enjoying the pink Gem’s company and being wary of her due to what she’s done. 

You’re so lost in thought while the New CG’s set up their tech, that you don’t notice when the sky begins to darken- until Peridot gasps out, “Everyone needs to come  look at this!”

You rush over, expecting to see something on the monitor (is that a microwave?), but instead she’s pointing to the ground around the injector, which has turned a sickly  black-blue color. 

“The grass...it looks like it’s dying,” you mumble, slightly shocked at the sight before you. 

“Y/n, Bismuth, Peridot!” 

You turn at the sound of your name, and see Steven and Amethyst rushing up the hill. Your eyes brighten at the sight of the purple Gem- she looks like she’s back to how she was before the rejuvenator strike! 

Before you can say anything, Peridot sighs and turns away from them. “Amethyst, get away from me...I can’t stand to see you all vacant and bereft of personality!”

“Yo, I’m back you dip,” Amethyst says flatly, which earns a chuckle from you. She really is back to normal! 

“Oh! Well- you're just in time for the end of the world!” Peridot says, trying to put on a cheerful façade. “This is no ordinary injector. Whatever it’s leaking into the ground is toxic.”

Bismuth walks up to Peridot’s set up and holds out a bit of Earth to the green Gem.

“Let’s get a scan going and see what we’re dealing with,” Peridot continues, bubbling the affected dirt and placing it in her makeshift scanner. You watch in silence, wanting to leave the science to the smarter Gems. You wouldn’t even know where to begin with this tech, even if it  _ is  _ made out of a microwave.

The scanner ejects a piece of paper with readings and statistics on it., and Peridot looks over it and frowns.

“Just as I thought,” Peridot mumbles, gazing up at the injector. “Bio-Poison. Pure and uncut. As of this moment, the ampule has drained fifteen-point-four percent of  it’s contents, meaning the poison is releasing at a destruction rate of 5 cubic meters per hour, giving us...hmm... forty one hours until the destruction of all organic life on Earth.”

Your eyes widen as you and the group step closer to Peridot’s set up, all staring up at the injector with horror.

“All organic life...?” Steven says in shock.

“Yeah, like the animals, the plants, the insects... y’know , people,” Peridot finishes nonchalantly.

“ _ I’m  _ people!” You blurt out, wrapping your arms around your middle, trying to hold it together. You can’t hide the fear that Peridot’s words have instilled in you. No matter what happened with the Crystal Gem’s memories...it wouldn’t matter if the entire Earth was dead in two days.

“This is what Spinel meant! ‘Your human half won’t stand a chance against my injector,’” Steven says, realization in his voice, “She- she brought this thing here to kill me! And now it’s  gonna kill everything else on Earth too?! I’ve  gotta do something!”

With that, he rushes towards the giant injector, prompting everyone to call out to him in protest. But he continues forward, stopping at the drill head. You watch in equal parts amazement and shock as he wraps his arms around the base and attempts to lift the entire thing out of the ground. For a moment, it  actually looks like it’s working- the injector begins to lift, and you dare to hope that he might actually end the entire problem right here.

“Steven, be careful!” Bismuth calls out from beside you.

“Yeah! Lift with your legs!” Spinel says, oblivious to the danger.

But it seems like Steven’s powers fail him once more, and you watch as he drops the massive machine back deeper into the Earth. Lighthouse Park shakes with the impact, and pink glowing cracks begin to form on the ground around Steven. Some of the pink liquid splashes out from one of them and hits Steven on the arm, burning through his jacket and wounding him.

“Steven! Get out of there!” You call out, frustrated that you can’t do anything but sit back and watch as caverns of bio-poison  open up around him.

Next to you, Spinel seems perfectly relaxed about the situation. You look to her frantically, about to suggest she stretch out and grab him, when she does exactly that. She shapes her stretchy arms into a fishing rod, and places Steven on the ground.

“Well look what I reeled in!” She jokes. You let out a sigh of relief. She may be charming most of the time, but she was entirely too relaxed during a dangerous situation. It must be part of her nature to joke about everything...

“Steven!” Peridot calls, rushing forward with the rest of the group.

“Are you ok?” Amethyst asks in a concerned tone.

“My organic jacket,” Steven says, sounding crestfallen. “I can’t do anything with my powers like this! Bismuth, Lapis- can't you lift that thing? Peridot, what about your metal powers?”

“You think we didn’t consider that?” Lapis says incredulously.

“Disturbing the injector accelerates the poison’s rate of release,” Peridot explains, holding out her screen. “Also, it might explode. We  have to find a way to move it- without touching it.”

You glance towards the injector, and your eyes drift to Spinel, who has walked up closer to her machine.

“Steven, Spinel is the only one that we know for sure can control it safely,” you remark, gesturing to the pink Gem who has adopted the vacant expression again as she waves back at you.

“But...she doesn’t even remember what it is, let alone how to control it,” Steven replies.

“Then you  gotta change her back,” concludes Bismuth. You nod in agreement, looking at Steven. It’s really the only way you can think of that won’t endanger anyone further. 

“No way! She’s cute and harmless now, but if we bring her  back she’ll kill us all!”

Peridot gives him a look. “You’re going to die  _ anyway _ if you don’t get her to deactivate that thing!”

Steven looks to you, silently seeking the advice of the other human.

“Steven, as a fully organic being, I think we need to do it. It’s only going to get worse from here and we don’t have much time, especially since we need to get her memories back...How did you end up doing that for Amethyst?” You ask, glancing at the restored purple Gem.

“I- I just reminded her of things from our past, personal things, and of the bond we share...but that’s different, I don’t even know Spinel to be able to do that for her! None of us had ever even heard of her except...”

A look of realization dawns on him. “Pearl! Pearl knew her!”

** _ x * _ ** ** _ x * x * x * x _ **

“I’m afraid I can’t help. I’m currently in the service of my Um-Greg Universe, preparing for tonight’s concert!” Pearl explains cheerfully to the group, “It’s showcasing a promising ensemble in the  _ rock-n-roll  _ genre.”

You and Amethyst look at each other and instantly burst into muffled laughter at Pearl’s exaggerated pronunciation- you two were  definitely going to tease her for this when she eventually regains her memories. Peridot probably would as well, when she hears about it. The New CG’s had stayed behind to monitor the injector, so it was just you, Steven, Spinel and Amethyst who had gone down to meet Greg and Pearl. 

You hear Greg’s voice from inside the unit, seemingly talking on the phone with Mayor Nanafua.

“You’re evacuating people to the warehouse? I’ll- I’ll cancel the rock show!” He says, walking out towards everyone and avoiding Pearl’s gaze.

“Oh- no? You’re right, Sadie Killer always draws a crowd...You got it, Mayor! I’ll drop the cover charge and...heck, thirty percent off merch!” He finishes triumphantly, and ends the call.

“Dad!” Steven calls out, grabbing his father’s attention.

“Ah, Steven, Y/n! Everybody! You found Amethyst!” Greg exclaims, relief plain on his face. 

“And you found Garnet,” you remark, gazing past Greg into the storage unit, where she and Spinel are fiddling with some wires. Garnet had apparently wandered off sometime while the group was at the injector, but everyone had been too busy to notice until the situation had calmed down. You were just glad Greg and Pearl had found her wandering.

A crash sounds in the unit, and Greg turns around in alarm.

“Garnet, are you okay?” 

“Did you want the red cable...or the blue one?” Garnet asks calmly.

“It doesn’t matter, they’re the same!” Greg replies. He turns back to see Pearl storing a guitar in her gem. “Pearl, what are you doing? We need those for the show!”

He seems to be getting more and more stressed by the minute, and you are as well. Just watching him is making you jittery.

“Greg,” you say calmly, “It’ll be ok. The show will be  great, and let me know if I can help!”

“Ugh, who cares about the rock show!” Steven interjects suddenly, “We have to stop Spinel’s injector or everyone on earth is going to die!” 

He turns and walks away in frustration, and you and Greg follow. You don’t want him to get too frustrated again, he doesn’t deserve to feel like this...

“To stop it, we need Spinel back, and to do that, we need Pearl back, and to do  _ that  _ we need her missing pieces,” Steven continues, “Pearl and Mom rebelled together so she’s  gotta rebel with you, Dad. We  gotta stage some big dramatic event, something to jog her memory, like...like a-”

“Like rock show, dude!” Amethyst cuts in. Steven turns to her in surprise, a grin slowly spreading across his face.

You put your arms around Steven and Amethyst, sandwiching yourself in between them.

“Well...let’s go to a rock show!” 


	4. Jamais Vu

Your group heads out to the warehouse on the edge of town, and quickly starts setting everything up for the show. Some evacuees are already hanging around outside, waiting for Sadie and the band to do the soundcheck. You don’t know too much about setting up all this equipment, so you help move things around and keep an eye on Garnet. You’re internally kicking yourself for letting her wander off last time, she could have gone anywhere! Luckily Greg and Pearl found her, but still...

Spinel interrupts your thoughts, walking past with Steven, who looks rather aggravated. You watch their conversation bemusedly from your place in front of the stage, catching Steven’s eye and chuckling at Spinel’s antics.

“What’s that?” Spinel asks, pointing to some guitar amps up on stage.

“Guitar stuff,” Steven says flatly.

“And those?” she asks again.

“Uh, microphones...Spinel, hey, why don’t you help Y/n with taking tickets at the door?” He says quickly, shooting you a pleading look.

You chuckle and nod. “Yeah, I can do that. Wanna help, Spins?” you ask, the nickname flying out before you can stop it.

You watch her eyes go wide before she looks at the ground, avoiding your gaze. “Uh...yeah, I can help,” she mutters, leaving Steven to walk past you towards the entrance. As she walks past, you catch a glimpse of her face, which is a deeper pink than usual.

_“Is she...blushing?”_ you think curiously. You follow her out to the front, eyes on the back of her heart buns. _“Maybe the nickname is weird for a Gem I barely know...”_

The sun is descending on Beach City, and it paints a lovely picture on the distant beach. The air is cool, and the atmosphere is just right- you can almost forget the world might be ending soon.

“Hi Mayor Nanafua!” you call out, stepping towards the smaller woman. “We’re here to help!”

“Ah, Y/n! I forgot you visit over the summer, how nice to have you here! Although, given current circumstances...” she trails off, gazing towards the injector. “Anyway! You and the pink one can direct people inside! Take tickets from the fans, send the evacuees in- fairly simple, no?” 

“Yep, we can handle that!” You reply cheerfully, motioning for Spinel to stand on the opposite side of the door from you.

“Ok Spinel, basically people are going to hand you little pieces of paper with today’s date on ‘em. Technically anyone can go in now because of the evacuation, but...we just have to hold the tickets for Greg so he can get a head count of how many people were here for the band.”

A fan walks up to you then, and hands you his ticket. You nod as he walks in and look back to Spinel, holding up the small ticket for her to see. “This is what the tickets look like, just so you know. It’ll be fun! This shouldn’t take long, and then we can watch the show!”

“Yay! I’m so excited!” Spinel cheers, grinning out at the approaching crowd.

**_x *_****_ x * x * x * x_**

Once there’s a sizable crowd inside, Mayor Nanafua catches your attention and tells you to head in as well. You grin and grab Spinel’s hand excitedly.

“C’mon, it’s gonna start!” 

You rush inside with the pink Gem in tow, moving up front to find Greg, Pearl, and Garnet. To your surprise, Amethyst has made her way on the stage- you forgot she drummed for Sadie Killer sometimes, so this was going to be even better than you thought! Spinel made her way over to Garnet, which gave you an opportunity to check in with Steven and Greg.

“Hey guys, how’s it going?” you asked kindly. 

“Well...okay, I guess,” Greg replied, scratching the back of his neck while nervously glancing at Pearl. “We requested a song for them to play that might jog Pearl’s memory...”

The song begins, and it’s one you recognize off the new mini-album, called “Disobedient”. You grin and start dancing in place, watching Amethyst rock out on the drums. She really was great! You glance over at Garnet and Spinel, who have taken to jumping up and down together. 

_“At least she’s getting along with one other person,”_ you think happily. 

“This has gotta bring Pearl’s memories back,” Steven says to you and Greg confidently. You look past them at Pearl, who gazes at Greg, waiting for any opportunity to serve him. You can only hope this will spark something in her...

But as the song goes on, she shows no signs of recognition. Your closest Gem friend is right in front of you and she has no idea who you are, not even with this song about rebellion. You can’t think of what else would work, and you’re building up the strength to accept that, like Garnet, Pearl might not be back for a while.

You can see Amethyst growing more and more worried from behind the drum set. Pearl seems just as devoted to Greg as usual, even going so far as to bow to him at the end of a short ballet dance. Amethyst motions to you and Steven to come closer to the stage, and you follow Steven as he dances his way up.

“It’s not enough!” He says in an exasperated tone, raising his voice above the music.

“She still isn’t remembering anything,” you chime in, glancing back at her sadly.

“Maybe we need to hit her where it hurts,” Amethyst says, resigned. 

“What?” Steven replies.

“You know, her original boss, the love of her life- the reason she rebelled in the first place!”

“Mom...she’s gotta remember Mom! But-” he cuts himself off, turning back to Greg who had been listening in.

“If that’s what it takes,” Greg says with a shrug, preparing himself to see Rose.

You glance worriedly between Amethyst and the others. You never knew Rose, so seeing her won’t mean a whole lot to you- other than reminding you of all the ways she hurt your friends- but you know it could be devastating for any of them, and especially Pearl. 

_“This could work...”_

Steven nods to Amethyst, and she grabs a mic while shifting. Suddenly, Rose Quartz is standing before you, albeit a purple version of her. Like everyone else in the room, you can’t tear your eyes away from her, but in your peripheral you see Pearl hasn’t looked away from Greg at all. Amethyst/Rose looks directly at Pearl and finishes off the song.

“I want to be disobedient...I want to be disobedient...disobedient....”

But as the song ends and cheers erupt from the crowd, Pearl still isn’t any closer to shifting back to her present self. You slump your shoulders sadly, tears forming in your eyes.

You turn back to the stage just as Amethyst shifts back to her normal form, and you’re suddenly grateful that at least one of the Gems is around. You don’t know how you would be getting through all of this without them. Steven is great, but he still has his moments where he reminds you that he’s just a kid. You know you’re still young too, but you’re a little closer in maturity to the Gems, so having them around for crisis is always comforting.

“How could that not work? What are we missing?”

Steven’s voice makes you tear your attention from Amethyst, and you get back into brainstorming mode. You can’t afford to fall apart now. 

You don’t have any answers for Steven’s question; all you can do is turn back to Greg and Pearl and wrack your brain for something else to try. Greg claps slowly for the end of the song, and Pearl rushes to stop him.

“Don’t worry, I can clap for you!” She yells, and claps exuberantly, much to Greg’s dismay.

“Ugh! What will make you stop serving me?!”

“As long as you exist, I will serve you!”

To your right, Steven and Amethyst gasp in unison.

“What, what am I missing?” You ask them quietly.

“’As long as you exist!’” They say at the same time, quoting back Pearl’s words.

“That’s the final piece- Mom disappeared!” Steven exclaims. He rushes over to Greg, a determined look in his eyes.

“Dad- I’ve got an idea.”

He whispers something to his father, something that causes Greg to look at Steven in disbelief.

“Are you sure? Aren’t your powers messed up?”

“I can at least try!”

“But...what about me? I’ve never...”

“C’mon, Dad- let's duet!”

With that, Greg nods once, and follows his son to the stage, both grabbing a guitar on the way. You look wide eyed towards Amethyst, who has a half-crazed grin on her features.

“How is another song supposed to help Pearl remember? We just tried this!” you whisper loudly to your friend.

She laughs and grabs you by the shoulder, pulling you in and pointing to the stage. “Just watch, dude!”

You roll your eyes and smile, knowing that it’s better to trust Amethyst and go along with it rather than argue the point. Besides, Steven thinks this could work too, whatever it is. 

On stage, Greg and Steven ready their instruments, briefly tuning them before they look at each other and start playing. It’s an intense sounding rock intro, and as they step closer to one another on the beat, pyrotechnics flare up in front of them. It’s so bright that you almost miss it- they're back to back, Steven looks like he’s straining, and then there’s a flash of light and smoke surrounds the stage. You squint, trying to see where they are since the music has stopped-

“Um-Greg?” Pearl calls out nervously.

Spinel pops up next to you and cries, “Steven?!” 

Before you or Amethyst can answer either of them, a voice that is distinctly not Steven or Greg sounds out from the stage.

“It’s a big old universe out there...and when you’re getting crushed under the weight of them stars, sometimes you need that special someone to remind you that you’re so much more.”

The smoke parts, and a man is standing before you- _“No, definitely not a man, really...a fusion,”_ you think to yourself, noting the four arms he possesses. Did Steven really just...fuse with his father? If you hadn’t heard about and seen Stevonnie before, you almost wouldn’t believe it. A half gem, half human fusing with a full human...It just seems so unlikely. But you know by now that with Steven, basically anything can happen.

Behind you, Pearl is looking around for Greg frantically, and you’re almost ready to give up again- Greg disappeared and she’s still not back?- but once Steven/Greg start singing, Pearl suddenly looks almost...relaxed. More at ease than she’s looked this entire time since she was reset. And you have hope again.

“Nothing is holding you back now,” Steven/Greg sings, “No one can push you around. What do you want to do? You’re the master of you! And isn’t the thought enough to lift you off of the ground?”

Suddenly a pink aura is surrounding Steg and Pearl, and they’re literally lifted off the ground by music. You gasp in wonder, and look excitedly to Amethyst, who is looking hopeful as well. You both clutch the front of the stage, staring up at the floating pair as they drift higher into the sky, the music getting further and further away.

After a moment, you see a bright light emitting from Pearl, and your heart leaps.

“She’s coming back, she’s coming back!” You screech to Amethyst, jumping up and down excitedly. 

She grins nonchalantly and hoists herself up on stage as a glow surrounds her too, and brings her up into the sky with the others. You watch in fascination as Pearl’s far away form shifts through what looks like different iterations of herself. Finally- the Pearl you know emerges, jacket and all. You clap happily, watching with glee as Pearl and Amethyst do a short dance, and then they’re fused as well- into the Gem you know as Opal. You’d never actually seen Opal form, as there hasn’t been much occasion for the Crystal Gems to fuse (except for Garnet, of course). So this is a real treat for you, and wow do they look amazing! 

“Hell yeah! Get it, Opal!” you call up to your friends, pumping a fist in the air. 

Behind you, Lion appears, and swoops Garnet up into the air, Steg’s pink glow supposedly lifting them off as well. You watch them pass by, and you wish you could be up there with them...but you’re content to watch from below, supporting your friends.

You don’t see Spinel’s face twist into an expression of sadness and longing.

You hear the faint ending of the song as the group descends back down, and Steven and Greg quickly unfuse as they reach the stage. You hop up onto the stage as they fall to the floor, and Steven looks much worse than he did before the fusion.

“Steven...hey, are you okay?” You call out as you reach the group. Your back is facing the crowd and you’re focused on helping him up, but Steven’s gaze goes past you.

“Wait...Spinel!” He cries out weakly. You turn towards the pink Gem just in time to see her rush to the entrance. You glance between Steven and the retreating form of Spinel, trying to decide what to do. Ultimately, though, you decide Steven is more important in the moment- he looks really worn out and you’re concerned for him.

And you’re not the only one. Amethyst and Pearl unfuse, looking content, until Pearl notices Steven’s condition.

“Steven, are you okay?!” she gasps, echoing your sentiment from earlier. 

“D-don’t worry about me,” He says, finally accepting your help in standing up. He seems a bit more stable, though still fairly shaky on his feet, “We need Spinel to remember how to stop her injector. Pearl, what do you know about her?”

“Spinel? She was Pink Diamond’s little playmate...They used to spend ages together in Pink’s garden,” Pearl replies. You can’t help but catch her eye and give her a big smile, which she returns. It’s so good to see her back to normal and acting like herself again. You can’t wait to catch up when all of this is over.

“Garden?” Steven asks incredulously.

“That’s where they used to play-”

“So what’s her problem with us?” Amethyst interrupts, furrowing her brow at Pearl.

“I don’t know, I haven’t seen her in six thousand years!” Pearl answers, earning a surprised look from you. It’s so easy to forget how truly ancient the Gem race is, when they’re just such a part of your daily life. 

“Something must have happened to her since then!” Pearl finishes, glancing between the group. 

“Then that’s what I need to find out,” Steven says, seemingly ready to take off after Spinel. 

“Hey, Steven, um...maybe we should let you rest for a bit first? She can’t have gone far,” you say hesitantly, holding a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

“It looks like that fusion took everything out of you!” Amethyst agrees.

“I’ve gotta do what I can with the little I have left,” Steven replies, sweat dripping from his face.

You stand in front of him as he starts to take off. “At least let me come with you, ok? Greg, Pearl and Amethyst can watch Garnet, and I’ve been with Spinel all day, I might be able to at least help a little.”

Steven glances away, seemingly thinking about the offer. “Well... okay. But please, if we get her memories back and she starts to attack me again, please just run and get help. I know we have her scythe now and that wouldn’t affect you anyway, but she could still hurt you,” Steven pleads, looking at you with concern.

You nod in agreement. “I promise that if there’s nothing I can do to reason with her, I will run and get help and not try to fight.”

He smiles weakly at you and motions to Lion. “Ok then. Let’s go after her.”

You hop on behind Steven and burst out the front of the warehouse to see the Mayor still waiting for stragglers.

“Oh, Steven! Y/n! Some people are missing from the shelters!” She remarks in an inquisitive tone. 

Steven ignores her and asks, “Did you see a pink Gem run by?” 

Mayor Nanafua points out across the water- back towards the Temple and the injector. Lion speeds ahead, dashing across the water.

“Thank you, Mayor!” You call out, hoping she’ll be able to find everyone that’s missing.

It takes Lion a few minutes to get across the water back towards Beach City. In the meantime, Steven collapses forward onto Lion’s mane, clutching at his gem.

“Steven?!” You ask in shock, “What’s the matter?”

“Just this morning everything was perfect,” he replies sadly, his words muffled by thick pink hair, “Why did everything have to change?”

You sigh and look up at the looming injector, and the inviting Temple at the base of it. “I don’t know, Steven. But this is just...temporary, ok? We can fix everything and still be happy after this.” You chuckle to yourself before you speak again, “It’s not the end of the world!”

Steven smiles half-heartedly. “Well...it kinda is. But thanks, Y/n.”

You nod, focusing your attention back towards the cliffside. A piece of Earth crumbles down, just nearly missing Steven’s home. As you near the house, the newly built observatory begins to glow, signifying the use of the warp pad.

“That might be her,” Steven says as you both dismount Lion. He turns towards the pink animal and says, “Go find Connie. We need all hands on deck for this one.”

At Steven’s command, Lion creates a portal for himself and bounds through it, leaving you two standing in the wake of the temple. A wave of uneasiness passes over you- which version of Spinel are you going to find in there? If she ran off, she must have remembered something. 

_“I hope she’s okay...”_ you find yourself thinking. 

You and Steven rush up the stairs to the observatory, and he holds a hand out in front of you just before you reach the entrance, a silent warning to stay back until he can see her condition. You nod, and stand just out of sight, nerves all over the place.

“Spinel?” Steven asks timidly. He motions to you that it’s ok to step forward.

_“She must still be her reset-self,”_ you think as you follow him into the observatory. Sure enough, you’re greeted with the sight of her heart shaped pigtails turned away from you as she sits on the warp pad.

“Spinel, what’s wrong?” you ask quietly, approaching her slowly. She turns at the sound of your voice, and you can see big tears streaming down her face, her features contorted in sorrow. She sniffles pathetically, gazing between you and Steven with big, gleaming eyes.

“I just...started getting these feelings flooding back to me!” Spinel exclaims, turning away from you again and clutching her head.

“That’s...that’s good! I need you to remember,” Steven says, approaching her with confidence and joining her on the warp pad. You scurry up next to him, wanting to continue to help.

“If you don’t remember, something really bad will happen to me and- and my home, and Y/n,” Steven finishes, putting a comforting hand on Spinel’s back. You kneel down next to her on the left, and try to peer around to see her face.

“Hey, it’s ok, Spinel...please, can you remember anything? Do you remember the Garden?”

She gazes in your eyes a moment, before her head snaps up to the sky. She grins for a split second, and then her face falls, and she slams her hands on the warp pad in agony.

_“NO!”_

The pad activates before you have time to react, and you’re floating through the stream, using all your power to focus on not drifting out. 

Ahead of you, Steven calls out to the pink Gem. “Spinel, where are we going?”

“Back. To where I never left,” she answers softly. You can barely hear her among the sound of the warp. Suddenly, gravity comes rushing back up to meet you, and you land on the warp pad with a thud. Steven and Spinel land upright, and the latter rushes down off the platform.

“Spinel!” you call out, scrambling to your feet and rushing after her, with Steven next to you.

“This was our Garden...a special world, built just for Pink and I,” Spinel explains, a faraway look in her eye. She gazes out over the landscape as if she’s watching a memory occur in front of her; she doesn’t take notice of you and Steven, but continues talking all the same.

“On Homeworld, Pink was so lonely and sad, but not here! Here we would play for hours...every day was so much fun! At least, that’s what I thought...”

She turns towards what looks like a statue in the center of the Garden, and seems to break out of her memories.

“Did something happen?” you ask softly, watching her expression closely.

“Pink wanted a colony, more than anything. One day, her wish came true! Blue and Yellow gave Pink her very own planet! Earth...I was so excited! A brand new place to play!”

Steven tips his head in confusion, “So...why didn’t you go with her?”

Spinel’s face morphs into something you’ve never seen on her before- no emotion whatsoever.

“Pink...showed me a game she wanted me to play while she went to Earth. ‘Stand very still’, she told me. I thought it would be so much fun...”

As Spinel recounts the tale of her life- if you could even call it that- you feel like you want to throw up.   
_“She was asked to stand still to wait for Pink...she wasn’t even forced, like Pearl was about keeping Rose’s true identity secret. Spinel stayed out of loyalty, out of love...this is so fucked up,”_ you think, as Spinel continues.

“Finally, some news came. About how it all ended. I saw the broadcast, how Pink...doesn’t exist now, survived by her son. And all of her friends back on Earth.”

She races over to what you thought was a statue, and pulls up a screen, which has Steven playing on a loop. 

_“He just got back from doing that earlier today,”_ you think, horrified. _“She was stuck here until this morning?” _

A fresh wave of nausea rolls over you as Spinel finishes her story. 

“Aren’t I a fool to have happily listened...to have stayed...”

As she trails off, she begins to glow, and you watch unmoving as Spinel’s form changes. Her gem flips, her ponytails grow longer and spiky, and she grows taller. The light fades, and you can see that she’s back to how she was when you first saw her- darker, sadder, angrier. 

She stays facing away from you and Steven, and you’re about to say something to her, before Steven beats you to the punch.

“S-Spinel! You got your memories back...I can’t believe Mom did that to you.” A beat of silence. “Well, actually, I can totally believe it. You’re not the only one she hurt.”

Steven approaches her, a friendly hand stretched out. Suddenly Spinel turns on him, growing in size and throwing him to the ground, a fist raised threateningly.

“Yeah, you must know all about her life without me! Rub it in why don’tcha?!”

“No, it’s not like that!” Steven exclaims while trying to summon his shield, “You deserve a better friend!”

Spinel blinks in surprise. With a yell, she turns back towards the communication device and punches it to pieces. You recoil slightly, not wanting a rogue rock to strike you. Speaking of rogue rocks...

You turn back to Spinel, who just sighs and crumples onto the floor. Your concern for her overtakes your fear of her, and you step tentatively to her side, crouching down next to her.

“Spinel, I... I’m so sorry about what you went through. As a human, I... genuinely can’t imagine what that must have been like. Waiting for eons... But I’m sorry all the same.”

You try to look her in the eye, but she avoids your gaze, turning her head away from you. You glance back at Steven, silently asking for help.

“Spinel, come back and save the Earth with me. You can start over there,” he reassures her. “You can make new friends.”

He holds out a hand to her, and she stands and turns to him, leaving you trailing behind them both. Had you done something to upset her?

_“As long as he thinks this will work...I’ll trust him,”_ you think. You can’t help feeling a bit put off by Spinel not wanting to even talk to you, but you suppose she has a lot of complicated feelings towards Steven right now.

“Someday, you’ll love again,” Steven reassures Spinel as she takes his hand tentatively, “You just need to find someone who treats you better. “

He keeps glancing at you and the warp pad repeatedly, and you can tell he feels a bit awkward, talking to Spinel like this. You almost wish he’d let you keep trying- she may not trust either of you, but you’re not so sure Steven really feels up to this sort of emotional baggage right now. 

He continues leading her forward, eventually breaking off from her hand and running up to the warp pad, motioning for you to join him. You quickly follow him, eager to get back to Earth. Warping around Earth with Pearl is one thing, but being in space...you look up through the glass that’s separating you and the endless sky. You suddenly feel very, very small. 

Spinel looks past you, barely taking notice of you as she gazes at Steven. Spinel is making you feel small, too. You furrow your brow as you look between the two of them, but the warp activates before you can think further. You’re left hanging in the air again, struggling to get the hang of all the warping, but this time when the warp stops you land on your feet, at least. You celebrate at the small victory, and rush after Steven as he exits. At the doorway, you pause- Spinel is still standing on the platform, her eyes looking far away. 

“C’mon, Spinel,” you say quietly, offering her a hopeful smile. She finally seems to see you, and she snaps out of whatever trance she was in, wiping at the tears that had formed in her eyes. 

“Y-yeah, ok...” She seems to grow shy again as she rushes past you, leaving you to follow her and Steven once again.

The three of you enter Steven’s bedroom, and you both start to head down the stairs.

“We’re back!” Steven calls out in a sing-song voice, looking happier than you’ve seen him all day. 

“Hi everyone!” You say, waving at the three Crystal Gems from the stairs. You turn towards Spinel, who is hesitating at the top of the steps, out of sight from the others. 

“Come on down!” you urge gently.

“Won’t they all be...not exactly incredibly thrilled to see me like this?” She asks, pointing to her markings.

“Oh Spinel...” you say softly, your heart hurting for the Gem.

“We just have to talk to them,” Steven answers simply, giving her a small smile. Her expression shifts to one of trust, and she heads down the stairs into view, standing between you and Steven. 

“Wh-what?!” Pearl cries out. She and Amethyst instantly get into battle mode, both pulling out their weapons and taking a defensive stance. You feel Spinel shift next to you, hiding behind you and Steven timidly.

“Oh, Spinel! Did you change your hair?” Garnet asks innocently.

“Woah woah woah! Spinel got her memories back, but she’s not gonna hurt us!” Steven says to the Gems. You nod frantically in agreement, hoping they’ll put away their weapons.

“Everything’s chill!” Steven reassures, relaxing slightly when the Gems don’t pursue the attack further.

A bright light in the corner of the room makes you shield your eyes, and Spinel is so startled that she grips your arm on accident. Connie and Lion emerge from the portal, and Connie lets out a battle cry as she flips off of Lion.

“I’m here! Where’s the fight?” She calls out, looking around the room rapidly.

“Ah, there’s no fight, Connie!” you reply quickly, “Everything’s fine! Also it’s nice to see you!” 

Connie relaxes and gives you a smile and a wave. “Oh! Hi, Y/n!”

Suddenly, Greg walks out of the bathroom, and the group below rounds on him, startled by the sudden appearance. He holds up his hands defensively and says, “Okay okay, I’ll wash my hands!” 

As Greg walks back into the bathroom, Steven sighs and slumps forward. “Whew...okay! Spinel, can I ask you a favor?” he asks, some desperation creeping into his voice.

“Are you kidding? Anything!” she replies gleefully. 

As Steven explains what they need her to do with the injector, you can’t help thinking that this could all work out in the end. Spinel is about to get rid of the injector, and once Garnet’s memories are back things will go back to normal!

_“Well...not entirely. We’ll still have Spinel around...but that’s ok, right?”_ you think, questioning internally. _“She seems okay now, and she could make a new life here like everyone else has.”_

_ **x * x * x * x * x** _

You’re reminded of earlier today as you follow the group down the stairs and out to the injector. Only this time, most of your friends have their memories back, and you’re not in the dark about how to save the world. So as you make the trek up the hill for the fourth time that day, you’re actually relaxed and looking forward to the rest of the evening. 

You spot the New Crystal Gems up ahead, monitoring the injector still. You catch the tail end of their conversation as Peridot remarks, “That is bad! We’re hitting critical mass!”   
  
You assume she’s referring to the bio-poison, and you can’t help but feel thankful that you and Steven were able to get to Spinel in time and convince her to call it off. You look towards the pink Gem, who is currently hiding behind Steven, looking worried at the attention that’s on her.

“Steven, what’s the status on Spinel?!” Peridot asks worriedly.

“She’s back, and she’s here to help,” Steven replies easily. Spinel nods to him and moves towards her injector, her left pinky stretching into the shape of a horn that she blows into. She definitely seems...stretchier in this form, if the height and the pinky is anything to go by.

The injector floats off the mountain, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief, and the group cheers and high fives each other. You look at your friends and let out a breath, finally able to let your worries go after a long day. You glance back at Spinel and give her a tentative thumbs up, accompanied with a small smile for the Gem. Her eyes dart between your face and your hand, and she copies the gesture hesitantly. 

Next to her, Steven holds out his hand as a gesture of gratitude. “Thanks, Spinel,” he says happily.

“Aw, gee, what are friends for?” She laughs nervously, shaking the boy’s hand. Steven nods and turns back to the group, a determined look on his face.

“Okay, we’ve almost cleaned up this mess. Now all we need are Garnet’s memories and my powers, and we can all get back to living happily ever after! What could work for Garnet? Something about fusion, something about love...”

As Steven trails off into though, you can’t help but fixate on Spinel. She looks...worried, for some reason. Her brows are creased, and she’s standing awkwardly, as though she doesn’t quite feel like she belongs. 

As you watch her, she seems to find the courage to speak, her voice small and scared. “What about me?”

“Huh?” Steven questions simply, turning back to Spinel.

“Is that all you needed me for? To turn off my injector?”

“No! Well, sort of, but not-”

“W-what now? I-I did what you wanted, that’s it?”

“Well, yeah! We can just forget this whole thing ever happened!” Steven says with a half-hearted shrug and an attempt at a comforting smile.

You look between the two, conflicted on how to feel. On one hand, you can’t fault Steven for wanting to rush to get Garnet back and return to normal, but on the other hand...after everything you just learned about Spinel back in the garden, you’re surprised Steven is being so blasé about this. You don’t want Spinel to feel left behind and forgotten again. But life still has to move on. 

“How ya gonna forget with me around?” Spinel answers, slipping into the accent you first heard her speak in this afternoon, “I’m the source of all your problems! Don’t pretend you want me here!”

You try to interject, “Spinel, I-”

But she’s already spiraling down with worry, unable to stop her anxious thoughts, her eyes never leaving Steven. “You gonna put me somewhere? You gonna leave me somewhere? You gonna leave me alone?!” 

Your face blanches. Of course she would be worried, but she needs to be able to move on from this, at least for now. Garnet is important too...

“Spinel...” Steven says, apparently at a loss for words. He approaches her timidly, trying to comfort her, but she shoves him back with a shout. Steven falls to the floor and you wince. With his powers gone, he can’t be doing too well right now.

As he hits the ground, the rejuvenator flies out of his pocket and bounces towards the rest of the group. Garnet takes interest and before anyone can stop her, she presses the button and unfurls the weapon for all to see.

“Garnet, no-!” Steven races over to grab the weapon from her, taking care of where he’s aiming the scythe. 

“Why do you...have that?” Spinel deadpans, her eyes wide.

You feel like smacking your forehead. Of all the places he could have kept it... the house, the storage garage, even Greg’s van...why did he keep it?

“I was...just carrying it,” Steven answers, looking anxiously at the weapon. “I didn’t have anywhere else to put it.”

“Spinel, please believe him,” you chime in, “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not-”

“We can just forget this ever happened,” she says, her eyes narrowing. “You mean I can just forget this ever happened!” She gives a fake laugh and then growls out, “What a plan!”

This is too much. You start to step back, afraid of what she might do next, ready to run if she rounds on you. You’re trained by Pearl, yes, but...you have a feeling training might not help much with this Gem.

Spinel continues, “I turn off the injector, and then the moment my back is turned, _presto! Change-o!_ Problem solved! Well think again, you’re not gettin’ rid of me that easy!”

She extends her pinky into the horn again and blows, directing the injector to land directly on Steven. Your eyes go wide and you scramble, willing your legs to move quickly. You try to move out of the way in time, and you make it a good distance, but the impact still sends you flying, knocking your head on the ground, almost catapulting you over a cliff that was formed by the injector. Luckily, you come to a stop before you’re flung over. 

Your ears are ringing, there’s dust everywhere, and you can barely see. Maybe you hit your head harder than you thought. But you can just make out a voice coming from the cavern down below.

“-want me like _THIS?!”_

It’s Spinel. She sounds angry, upset, desperate. Maybe you can still try to talk some sense into her, though you’re not entirely sure that’s possible at this point.

“Spinel? Are you down there?” You call out to the Gem.

“Ah, looks like we still got an audience!” she says menacingly. Arms shoot towards you from below, and you’re too shaken to react in time- she's wrapped around you and is dragging you in towards her. “How about a front row seat?”

“Spinel, please!” you cry out, “I know Steven, he would never do something like that to you!”

Her eyes narrow as she looks into yours. “Oh yeah? The whole time I was the old me, he barely acknowledged me! I know he doesn’t want me here. I know it!” 

She squeezes you tighter out of anger as she fixes her gaze on Steven. “C’mon, you wanna attack me! Just admit it! Or better yet, just try it!”

“Spinel, _STOP!_” you plead, squirming to try to get free. You anxiously look up at the cliff side, willing any of the Gems to appear to get you and Steven out of this mess.

“No! No one wants me around!” She yells, but then pauses and glances at you, something like realization flashing in her eyes. Her voice softens as she says, “Except...you treated me differently. You actually...talked to me.”

She rounds on Steven once more and shouts, “Y/n is the only one who ever treated me like anything more than a burden! Who treated me like an equal, and not some dumb innocent...thing!”   
You glance back at your captor, surprised at her words. She was someone who you thought could have been a friend after everything. Not now, though. Not after this.

Spinel has a crazed look in her eyes, and you truly believe she wants Steven to attack her, just to prove a point. But you notice she’s also holding back tears- she's eternally in conflict with her emotions, it seems.

Steven finally finds the strength to stand, still holding the rejuvenator. “You know that’s not-”

“You want me gone so bad? FINE. But I’m taking HER with me!” She cries out, clutching you even tighter, trying to hold onto whatever comfort she seems to find in you.

_“What? No. No she can’t,”_ you think frantically, _“She has nowhere to go-”_

But before you know it, she’s moving out of the canyon fast, unbelievably fast, up onto the injector, with you still wrapped tightly in her clutches. As you’re being dragged away, you see Pearl and Amethyst moving towards you, weapons at the ready. You can’t let this continue any longer.

“Pearl, Amethyst, stop!” You shout out, hoping they can hear you. “Just let me handle this, please! I can talk to her, just focus on fixing the Earth!”

You know the Gems, and you know Steven- they'd probably ignore most other things to go after you, especially with Garnet not here to hold them back.

Spinel scoffs as you finish calling out to your friends but doesn’t comment further. You scowl at her, powerless to do anything but watch as she removes the injector with a call and sends it speeding across the ocean. 

“What exactly is your plan here?” You spit out, “You have no idea where anything is. They’re gonna find this injector so quickly, what are you even do-”

“Just can it, won’t cha?!” Spinel shouts back, and wraps a stretched hand around your mouth, shutting you up for the time being. She sits with her back to you, chin in her hands, staring out at the rising sun. So you just watch as you drift across the ocean towards some place neither of you know yet.

And then you’re gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, here it is! We are officially no longer in movie territory. I hope you like this chapter, and as always next chapter will be up in about a week!  
Wonder where you'll end up with ol' Spinsy...


	5. Stranded

You’ve lost track of how long the injector has been flying across the open ocean. The sun has been up for a while now, so you’d guess it’s close to midday. Spinel has relaxed her grip on you, thankfully, leaving your mouth uncovered, though it’s not like you have anything to say to her. She’s also unwound most of her arm from your mid-section, leaving you mostly free save for a couple wraps to keep your arms pinned.

Spinel has barely moved, only occasionally blowing on her horn to adjust course. You suspect she has no idea where she’s going, or if she even has an endgame for taking you in the first place. Once the Crystal Gems get Garnet’s memories back and deal with the bio poison, you’re confident they’ll be able to track you rather quickly. At least, you’re hoping. Pearl didn’t even know what the injector was, so you’re not sure how she or Peridot would be able to track it from so far away, and the warp system only takes them to very specific locations...

Maybe you’re less confident than you thought.

You sigh and shift a little, feeling the scorching heat of the sun bearing down on you. You don’t want to be the one to break the silence, but you’re hoping she’s going to land you somewhere soon. You’re starting to need water, and you’ll need food eventually as well.

_“Try not to think about it, Y/n,”_ you coach yourself,_ “it’ll just make it worse...”_

So you settle for leaning back on the top of the injector, and try to relax. Spinel flinches at your movement; you can feel her hold tighten briefly. Well, you are laying on her arm now, you suppose. 

_“Whatever. It’s not like she can be any more uncomfortable than I am right now.”_

As the minutes pass, and the sun continues to warm you up, you feel yourself drifting in and out of sleep...

_ **x * x * x * x * x** _

The feeling of movement around your waist jostles you from your rest. You jolt upright, turning to look back at Spinel, who blushes and turns her head after removing her arm from you.

“Just needed my arm back,” she mumbles, avoiding your gaze. “Besides. I think I found somewhere to...land. And we’re gonna need to ditch the injector somewhere.”

You roll your eyes and look back out towards the sea. There’s a small island up ahead; that must be where Spinel means to land. As you loom closer to the landmass, a sense of dread washes over you. You’re really going to be stuck on a random island out at sea...with a Gem who knows nothing about the needs of humans. 

“Um,” Spinel starts, clearing her throat before continuing, “I’m gonna...drop you off on the island and then fly the injector somewhere. Got it?” 

Her tone changes drastically with those last words, from timid to jeering. She narrows her eyes at you, almost tauntingly. It’s as if she wants you to fight back, like she was taunting Steven with earlier.

But you weren’t going to give her the satisfaction.

“Yeah, whatever. Just don’t kill me in the landing,” you say sarcastically. You can barely bring yourself to look at her for long. The betrayal of taking you, of trying to hurt your friends after all you’d been through today...it had been one thing for her to attack the Earth when she was lashing out from anger and hurt, but it was another thing entirely for her to do...this. Regardless of your hopes for her friendship before, you couldn’t see yourself forgiving her after all this.

Spinel lands the injector on the edge of the island’s beach, and moves towards your position on the edge of the ship.

“I’m gonna have to lower you down, Y/n,” she says quietly, still avoiding your gaze when she’s close to you.

“Fine,” you reply stiffly. “Just make it quick.”

She complies wordlessly, wrapping her arms around you and lowering you to the ground. She lifts the injector off without another word, and you’re left to fend for yourself momentarily. You decide to get right to it, knowing that you’re going to need protection from the elements, and most importantly a clean source of water. 

You wander into the small forest that sits in the center of the island. 

_“At least it’s not a complete desert island,”_ you think to yourself, grateful for the treetop cover. Shade will be nice- you can feel yourself beginning to burn after the long hours atop the injector. _“I’ll also need water, food, fire...”_

Suddenly, as you walk towards the forests’ center, a gleeful thought strikes you. It’s a small chance, but what if this island is the island that the Watermelon Steven’s live on? You’ve heard Steven talk about them before, how he’d accidentally created an entire Watermelon People with his healing spit back before he knew how to use the power properly. They had apparently been quite useful in the past, and Steven even had the ability to inhabit their bodies when he was asleep- this could be your way out of here!

You race through the forest, taking note of a couple streams of water that you pass by, but after a few minutes of jogging you reach the other side of the island. You stop to catch your breath, hands on your knees. You can’t help feeling dejected by the apparent lack of Watermelons, but...

_“Maybe they’re at one of the other ends of the island?”_ you think hopefully, and begin to make your way through the forest again, at a slightly slower pace this time. This time you pass a couple small waterfalls, flowing into pools of clear water. You’re grateful that you won’t have to worry about water, at least. Food was another matter entirely. You hadn’t seen any fruit trees or animals on the island, and of course if you did manage to find the Watermelon Stevens, you obviously couldn’t eat them...so what were you going to do?

You shake your head, pushing away the thought. That was something you’d worry about later. You weren’t hungry yet, at least, so that could wait.

Once again you arrive to the end of the forest, back onto the beach. You sigh and slump down into the sand, lying on your back. It looks like this is a totally different island from the one you’ve heard about. Your hope is dwindling quickly that you’ll be able to get back to Beach City...

“What are you doing?” 

A high-pitched voice startles you out of your thoughts, and you bolt upright. You turn to see Spinel standing behind you, arms crossed.

“What the hell does it look like I’m doing, Spinel?” you ask accusatorily, “I’m doing nothing. I’m literally doing nothing because you’ve stranded me on this island for absolutely no reason, and I just ran up and down this place making sure I had what I needed to actually survive. Something I’m sure you didn’t consider.”

She turns her head to gaze out at the sea, once again avoiding your eyes.

“Yeah, well...I guess I didn’t really consider a lot of things recently,” she mumbles.

Your eyes soften at that, your heart hurting once more for the tortured Gem. Some part of you wants to talk to her, really talk to her, but...

_“I can’t forgive her. Not for this,”_ you remind yourself.

You sigh and bring yourself to your feet, brushing off the sand from your clothes.

“Whatever. I have work to do to make sure I live through this.”

With that you turn back towards the forest, trying to remember the (admittedly scarce) survival knowledge you’d picked up here and there. You begin to make your way towards the trees, hoping you can find some branches and leaves big enough to make some sort of shelter. 

“C-can I do anything to help?” a small voice sounds out behind you.

You freeze in place, not wanting to turn to face your captor just yet. The way she sounds...your heart hurts for her, yes, but she doesn’t seem to really grasp just how messed up the situation is that she’s dragged you into. 

Finally you turn to the Gem, who is standing rather awkwardly, unsure what to do with her long limbs.

“I guess...if you want to look for some big leaves, or some sort of bowl-shaped thing that I can store water in, that would be helpful,” you reply.

She nods stiffly and parades off into the forest, looking rather determined. You shake your head and follow her, branching apart to scour for things you may need for whatever shelter you can manage to throw together. 

After about an hour, you’ve managed to gather a few larger palm leaves and some branches. You note that palm trees are scarcer than you would have thought for an island, and you briefly fret about having a receptacle to drink from if Spinel isn’t able to find anything useful.

After assembling them in a pile near one of the waterfalls under some larger trees, you’re fairly wiped. The sun is still beaming overhead, but it’s definitely moved west- you'd guess it was somewhere around three or four in the afternoon. You decide you have enough time to rest a while before you begin trying to assemble a makeshift shelter. 

With a plop, you seat yourself on the large rocks surrounding the waterfall, wiping sweat from your brow. Summer without air conditioning was the worst, especially in a tropical zone. You briefly consider going for a dip in the small pool the waterfall flows into, but you don’t want to dirty possible drinking water any further. So you sit for a while, zoning out and gazing at the landscape of what was to be your new home for the foreseeable future. 

After about twenty minutes, you hear footsteps approaching, and you turn to see Spinel. She’s carrying some leaves similar to those that you found, and a couple concave rocks. You hoist yourself to your feet and move to stand in front of her, wanting to get a closer look at what she’s found.

“I’m not sure if this’ll work exactly, for whatever you need it for, but...here.”

She thrusts the objects at you, then stalks her way over to a tree to lean against it, glaring out into the forest.

You roll your eyes for what feels like the millionth time today- your companion certainly lived up to her moody appearance- and take a closer look at the rocks. They’re just dipped in enough that they could be used for bowls or cups, and you breathe a sigh of relief. Sure, you could have drank from leaves, but that would be wasting valuable shelter resources. You’re relieved Spinel was able to find something, and you place the rocks gingerly near the waterfall so you remember where they are later.

“All right...well, thank you for these,” you say to the Gem, gesturing towards her findings. “They’ll be really helpful.” You pause for a moment and look over your pile of gathered materials, considering whether you want to ask her for help with this. Eventually, you sigh, and relent to the fact that you can’t do this part on your own.

“Could you, uh...maybe help me with building a shelter? Humans...we need to keep warm at night, and be protected from things that are outside and could hurt us,” you explain after seeing her confused face. “So I need to build a little tent out of these so I don’t get sick.” You try to keep any animosity towards her out of your voice, figuring she won’t want to help if you’re upfront with your current dislike for the Gem.

Spinel nods and pushes herself off the tree, uncrossing her arms and moving towards the pile. “Yeah, sure, whatever. Whaddya need?”

You furrow your brows and tentatively pick up a branch and a leaf, trying to figure out the best way to go about this.

“Um...well if I just position this here...” you mumble to yourself, a flush spreading across your face as you realize you have no idea what the hell you’re doing.

“Uh...I think it’s supposed to be a triangle shape?” you question, more to yourself than anything, since obviously Spinel wouldn’t have any idea either. 

You hear an odd noise, and glance over to the pink Gem. Her face is contorted, and you realize she’s trying to hold in laughter. When your eyes meet, she lets it all out, almost doubling over, and your flush deepens. Though with fondness or embarrassment, you’re not sure.

“Ahh, I’m sorry, Y/n,” Spinel manages to gasp out after a moment, “Y’just... you always seem like you know what’s goin’ on, and seein’ you so unsure was...well, pretty damn hilarious.”

A small smile finds its way to your lips, and you can’t help joining in with a chuckle at your own expense.

“Heh, well, it’s my first time ever trying to build something like this...it’s not every day you get kidnapped to a remote island, right?” you try to joke back with her.

The smile runs away from Spinel's face so quickly, it’s almost like it was never there. Her body tenses and she turns back to the materials pile, picking out a few branches. 

“How d’you want these?” she asks tersely. 

_“Shit. Why did I say that? That was the worst joke in the world! It hasn’t even been a day,”_ you think, before realizing something. _“Wait. She’s the one who kidnapped _me_. Why am I feeling bad for pointing that out? Ugh.”_

You bend down next to Spinel, and begin to try out different positionings for the branches and leaves, Spinel helping out here and there with heavier things.

_ **x * x * x * x * x** _

A couple hours later, you stand back and admire your shabby work on the shelter. You ended up having to make a lean-to in between two larger trees, as you had nothing to tie the branches together for the shelter to stand on its’ own. Spinel helped more than you’d like to admit, and you’re grateful that you at least have somewhere semi-protected to stay tonight. 

Your eyes widen as you realize something- that you’re an idiot.

“I forgot to try to make a fire! _Shit!_” 

Your outburst startles Spinel, who had been ruminating silently by the waterfall pond. You dash around, looking for small kindling to lay out over larger sticks, and looking for rocks that might spark if you hit them right, as well as stones to encircle the base.

Spinel watches you curiously, not seeming particularly interested in helping out. You chalk this up to her not knowing what to look for, and resolve to ignore her gaze while you busy yourself searching. 

As the sun moves further across the sky, you finally manage to assemble something resembling a camp fire. You’re not sure if the rocks you found are going to work to spark the fire, but you figure you can always try the stick rubbing method as well. You sit down near the fire, which is set up a short distance from your lean-to- close enough that you’ll still be able to feel warmth while inside, but far enough away that it won’t set the thing on fire (you hope.)

You settle in, figuring this may take some time. Spinel shifts uneasily from her spot back by the pond, and you sigh softly, making a gesture for her to come sit by the not quite yet a fire.

You’ve done some thinking today, and you’ve resolved that while you may have lost respect for the Gem, you don’t want to make your life any more miserable than it needs to be while you’re stuck here. You don’t forgive her, per se, but you also don’t want to sit in silence for who knows how long. And knowing what you do about Spinel, she doesn’t want that either.

“C’mon, Spinel...the fire’s not started yet, but you don’t have to sit alone.”

She ducks her head and stands, moving to sit across from you, her knees pulled to her chest and her head resting on them. Her gaze looks far away; she’s staring into the forest, looking forlorn. You knew most Gems didn’t get tired, not in the way humans do, but...she did look exhausted. Today took a toll on her.

You wrack your brain, trying to think of something- anything- to say to Spinel, but you come up short. What conversation topics do you bring up with a kidnapper? Who you thought had become a friend? You shake your head and get back to trying to start the fire. You don’t want to make things awkward again like earlier... 

_ **x * x * x * x * x** _

It feels like you’ve been at this for hours. At one point you gave up on the rocks and switched to the stick method, groaning in frustration every time you thought you saw a spark and it disappeared. Eventually you switched back to the rocks, completely unsure which was truly the best method. Spinel had gotten up a while back and informed you that she was going on a walk, to which you nodded and said that you’d be here. She seemed pleased by the affirmation and went on her way.

Now, though...it’s almost completely dark outside and still no luck. You slump forward, elbows on your knees and head in your hands, feeling defeated. Footsteps approach from behind, and you don’t need to turn to know Spinel is back. Deserted island, and all that.

“Hey...” you call out half-heartedly, not looking up.

“It, uh...doesn’t appear to be going too well,” Spinel comments as she sits across from you. 

You just groan in reply and toss the stones to the side, too tired to keep trying to light the damn thing.

“Mind if I take a crack at it?” Spinel asks, tentatively picking up the discarded rocks.

“Knock yourself out,” you say, gesturing to the unlit campfire.

The pink Gem gives it her best for a good ten minutes, but still no spark.

“I think I just have the wrong kinds of rocks,” you say sadly. It’s starting to get cold out now, the nice cool breeze from when the sun was out now carries a chill in the air. You wrap your arms around yourself, trying to stay warm.

“Hmm...” Spinel stands, looking for something on the ground. “What was that other thing you were tryin’ earlier?”

“Oh, the sticks? Yeah, that can work too, but it’s a lot more difficult since you have to maintain a constant speed and pressure. My arms are too tired now to do that again,” you reply, feeling the ache in your arms from almost three hours of work.

Spinel spots some sticks she deems worthy and plops back down in front of the fire site, a determined look in her eye.

“So, whaddya do for this again?” she asks, gazing at you across the way.

You walk over and show her to lay the flatter stick down, and to run the length with the shorter stick rapidly, creating ash that you drop into the kindling. 

“All right, I think I got it,” the gem replies, and begins to work the fire. After a moment, your eyes widen as she picks up the pace rapidly- you always forget Gems don’t have the same limitations humans do when it comes to speed and strength. Her arms blur and her face twists in concentration; after only a minute you’re already seeing smoke.

“Woah, great!” you exclaim, “Okay, now move the smoking bits to the kindling!”

Spinel doesn’t appear to have heard you, however. She continues scraping the sticks, picking up the pace still. You’re growing increasingly worried, when-

“Oh! Oh!” 

Spinel panics as the sticks themselves ignite. She was moving so fast, you guess she bypassed the kindling step...

“Ah, Spinel, it’s ok! Just toss them in the middle of the fire, this is wonderful! Be careful!” you add as an afterthought. 

Spinel follows your directions, and after a few minute of stoking, you have a contained campfire. You settle in with a sigh, away from where the smoke is blowing, and begin to get warm.

“Thanks, Spins,” you say gently, the nickname slipping out once more. You giggle quietly as she blushes and settles in closer to the fire, but surprises you when she meets your eyes this time.

“Ah, gee, no problem. Least I could do...”

You nod and give her a terse smile, and go back to holding your hands to the fire to warm them up.

_“Should I talk to her now? About...everything?” _

You debate internally for a moment, before pushing through the awkwardness and blurting a question out.

“So...why did you do it?” 

Spinel looks at you blankly. “Do what?”

“Uh, you know...take me? Bring me here?” 

Her eyes narrow and you look away, face burning.

“I took ya to make those nobodies feel the way I feel. And...” she trails off, making you look back up at her. Her features are softer now, kinder, as she contemplates what to say next.

“...I meant what I said. When I took you. Felt like you were the only one who didn’t hate havin’ me around. At least, when I was...the way I was before.”

“Spinel...” you say softly, unsure if you should move closer or not. 

“But now, well. Guess you probably hate havin’ me around too, huh? Can’t say I blame ya. After all that I’ve...put you through. Done to you.”

You sigh in disappointment as the Gem works herself up. “Spinel, I...I can’t be the one to comfort you. Not right now. I don’t hate having you around, but...I’m not exactly thrilled to be here, either. I just-”

“No, it’s fine. You’re right. I’m s-sorry.” 

Spinel bunches her knees up to her chest and puts her head down between them. You’re concerned, but...you meant what you said, too. This isn’t something that can just be written off and forgotten about with a few self-deprecating remarks from Spinel. You resolve to be as kind to her as you can be- no more ignoring her like earlier- but you’re not going to rush in and help her figure out all of her shit, either. She needs to be the one to do that. 

After another half hour or so, you’re feeling warm again, and drowsy. You stand slowly, and Spinel flinches and lifts her head at the sudden sound.

“Just me,” you explain. “I’m just tired. Gonna go try and sleep in the tent thing. Are you...” you trail off, unsure if you should ask. But you do anyway. 

“Are you gonna be ok out here alone? I know Gems don’t sleep.”

“Y-yeah, I’ll be fine. You go rest,” Spinel says as she waves you off, turning to stare into the crackling fire. 

“Okay. Thanks. And uh, make sure the fire doesn’t burn the place down,” you say, trying to lighten the mood. 

She gives you a half smile at the joke, “Heh, don’t worry ‘bout it. I’ll keep watch for ya.”

You give her an awkward thumbs up and head to the lean-to, shaking your head at yourself. Gazing at the sorry bed and pillow of leaves you attempted to make, you worry if you’ll even be able to sleep at all, but...you have to try.

As you lie down, you’re happy to know that the heat of the fire still reaches here, and you can see Spinel sitting by it. Makes you feel safer, for sure. You let the dull crackle of the flames lull you to sleep...

_ **x * x * x * x * x** _

You wake with a jolt as you feel a small pain in your arm. You look down and see a mosquito happily drinking away.

“Gah!” you exclaim, smacking the bug and bolting out of the tent. 

“Huh? What'sa matter?” Spinel says, her speech slightly slow. You briefly wonder if she had drifted off by the fire, even Pearl had been known to sleep occasionally if she had been overworked. And Spinel had definitely never rested before, not if she had been standing in a garden for 6,000 years...

“Oh, uh-” your mind snaps back to the present. “Just a bug bite scared me, that’s all. Sorry if I disturbed your rest,” you reply.

Spinel relaxes, seemingly relieved that you weren’t in any danger. She stands, stretching out her already stretchy limbs after sitting the whole night. As she moves around, your stomach growls impossibly loudly, and you flush in embarrassment.

“Uh, what was that?” Spinel says, trying to hide a smile. “That came from...you?” 

“Ugh...yeah, it did. I’m starving...I don’t think I’ve eaten since my lunch break two days ago? Shit. With everything going on there wasn’t time. And I didn’t think to look for food yesterday...”

You walk over to the waterfall and pond, grateful that you have water at least. You take a few sips from the rock Spinel had gathered, wincing at the taste of the water. Definitely isn’t salt water, but it’s not exactly Aquafina, either.

“I gotta find food today. Fish, fruit, something,” you continue to explain to the Gem. “I need to know I’ll be able to survive here.”

“Oh, yeah, guess that’s pretty important,” Spinel agrees, and moves to stand by you. “I’ll help out today too, hmm?”

You smile up at the taller Gem and nod, grateful you won’t have to do everything alone. As you comb through the island, you can’t help glancing at your companion a couple times. She seems unbelievably determined to make up for what she’s done, darting around, stretching up to look in trees for fruit. You have to smile at the use of her form- something that was once menacing is now almost...endearing. But still, it’s hard to forget her wrapping you up and taking you away from everything. 

You furrow your brows and turn back to the tree you were looking in, feeling as if your heart is torn in two. You want so desperately to just start over with Spinel, but you know that all that she’s done to you will always be in the back of your thoughts. You just feel immensely conflicted. It’s easier to focus on simply surviving for the time being.

By midday, the two of you agreed to meet back up at the campsite, having split off from one another to cover more ground. You were able to find a couple coconuts that you have no way of breaking open, but no fruit you could eat right then.

You slump against a tree, waiting for Spinel to arrive, hopefully having had better luck than you.

“Y/n! Is this somethin’ you could eat?” Spinel calls out as she rushes into the clearing. Your eyes widen at what is in her arms- bunches and bunches of bananas!

“Ohthankgod,” you manage to get out before you grab some from the Gem, who looks bemusedly at you through the large quantities of fruit. You open a banana and take a bite, almost groaning at the taste. It’s just a simple banana, but god did it hit the spot. You go through three more fruits before you begin to feel full, and you slide down against a tree, finally satisfied.

“Ahh...thank you so much, Spinel,” you say, eyes closed in bliss. 

She chuckles and walks up next to you, her arms free of the fruit. She put them down by the lean-to a few minutes ago- you'd have to build some sort of container for them later so they don’t get dirty or bug infested. 

“Food is...so weird,” Spinel comments, looking down at your sitting form. “Dunno if I’d ever try it.”

You shrug, glancing up at the pink Gem. “Amethyst actually loves eating food. And uh, other non-food items too, for some reason. She’s wacky like that.” You smile fondly as you talk about your friends’ odd habits, suddenly missing her. If everything was normal, you’d probably be hanging out right now...

But nothing is normal, so you’re not with your friends. You’re with...her.

With a sigh you bring yourself to your feet, and walk away from Spinel, not wanting to say anything that might make things awkward again. You move to crouch by the bananas, trying to think about the best way to tie them up or store them. Spinel approaches from behind you, staying a foot or two back.

“What, uh...what now?” she asks, a hint of nervousness in her voice. You can tell that she must have sensed your mood change, and you feel a twinge of guilt. You don’t want to keep making her feel worse, but you can’t help but continually cycle between feeling fond of her and wanting to get off this damn island she’s stranded you on. 

You stand once more and turn to face her, hand on your hip as you ponder your next course of action.

“Well, we need to store the food safely, so they can’t get bugs in ‘em or get all mushy if it rains,” you say, mostly just thinking out loud. “I guess we could make another small lean-to and try to wrap them in palm leaves...”

Spinel nods and begins gathering the leftover materials from the first lean-to. “Whateva you say, toots. You know more about this stuff than me.”

You start to move to help her, when the pet name she called you registers. 

_“Toots?”_ you think, blushing furiously as the nickname replays over and over in your head._ “Where did that come from? Gosh...”_

You resolve to try to not let the name render you incompetent, and begin to help Spinel, both of you working in tandem as you had last night to build a smaller hut. 

After around an hour, you stand back and place the finishing leaves on and in the lean-to, making sure all the dirt is covered up. You wrap bunches of bananas as best you can with the few leaves you have left, and shove them into storage.

“There!” you exclaim happily, “It’s almost kinda cute. Little banana hut.”

You look down on your creation with an odd sense of pride. It almost feels...nice, knowing you’re not entirely terrible at surviving in the wild. Though, with little to no danger on the island, you suppose it never would have been too difficult in the first place.

The sun is making its’ descent once more, and you realize you need to stoke the fire again before it gets cold. Luckily there’s no need to go through what you did yesterday; you can just take some smaller kindling and spread it around the fire, which should bring it back up in no time. 

As you work, Spinel begins pacing around the clearing, and when you glance up at the Gem, she looks strangely nervous.

“Spinel? You all right?”

She stops in her tracks and turns to reply. “Oh, heh, don’t worry ‘bout me, Y/n. Just a little antsy.”

“Oh, ok...do you want to go for a walk?” you ask softly. You realize you’ve been at the campsite for hours now, and aren’t surprised that the abandoned Gem doesn’t like staying in one spot for too long. You figure that’s why she must have gone on a walk yesterday too, and why she’s always eager to help on the excursions around the island. Makes perfect sense.

Spinel visibly relaxes at your suggestion, and shoots you a kind-hearted smile. “Yeah, that would help, I think.”

You nod and finish the work on the fire quickly, spreading and lighting kindling. When the fire is big and crackling once more, you stand and brush off your hands. 

“Wanna go walk around the beach? I bet it’s nice right now,” you say, gesturing in the direction of the closest shore.

Spinel nods, clasping her hands in front of her, and moves to walk next to you. When you reach the edge of where the trees and the beach meet, you almost gasp. The sky is a beautiful gradient of purple, blue, orange, and red. The backdrop of the sky against the perfect shore is almost unreal. You’re reminded of the tranquility of walking in Beach City at night, the sea spray just reaching the boardwalk, the sound of the waves piercing the silence of the night. 

“Wow...” Spinel breathes out, moving closer to the edge of the water. “I never...I haven’t realized how pretty this planet can be.”

You let out a light chuckle, and move to stand next to her in the surf, your arms almost touching. 

“Y’know, stuff like this is why the Crystal Gems protect this planet so fiercely,” you explain, thinking of your friends fondly.   
“They came here because of Homeworld, but stayed because of all this. And I guess the people weren’t so bad, either,” you joke, nudging your companion lightly. “Rose...uh, Pink Diamond, I guess you would know her as. She found love countless times through the years, so I was told. But none as great as Greg Universe- Steven's dad. That’s why she decided to...give up her form, you know. To give Steven life, bring him into the world. She saw something wonderful here and wanted to contribute in her own way.”

You look over at Spinel after you’ve finished talking, and see tears welling in her eyes. 

“Oh no, Spinel, I’m so sorry, I didn’t even-”

“No, no, it’s ok!” She cuts you off, sniffing and wiping at her eyes, tear marks still untouched. “I just...I didn’t know that about her. I didn’t know why she came here and...left me. There’s still a lot I don’t know, I think, but … somehow, hearing that helps a little.”

She takes a shaky breath in and turns to face you, gripping your arm with one hand.

“Y/n, I-”

Suddenly, a clap of thunder sounds out from behind you, startling you both. You turn to face the noise, and your stomach flips. A giant storm is almost right over the island, coming from the east, away from the sunset. 

“Oh my gosh. _Shit!_ The fire!” you exclaim, turning away from Spinel and racing back towards camp, frantically trying to think of a way you can salvage the fire. 

From the looks of the storm clouds, you’d guess you have maybe 15 minutes before the rainfall reaches your little island. You’re hoping it’s just going to rain, maybe some thunder- hoping like hell this isn’t a tropical storm you have no way of preparing for.

“Uh...crap what do I do?!” you shout, frantically darting around aimlessly, trying to figure out some make-shift way to protect your camp. 

Spinel looks almost as panicked as you feel, and you can tell she has no idea how to help, not that you blame her. In the end you decide there’s no real way to protect the fire, so you settle for shoving some sticks and kindling into both lean-tos, hoping they’ll stay dry enough to be able to start a new fire tomorrow. You deflate as you feel small rain drops start to touch your skin, and you look helplessly as it picks up and puts out your fire that you and Spinel worked so hard to light. It almost makes you feel like crying, honestly. Not to mention that you know you’re going to be freezing all night now as well. Luckily the palm leaves seem to be staying on the branches fairly well, so you can at least dry off. 

“Ugh, this is the worst,” you say, turning to a soaked Spinel. Thunder booms overhead and makes her jump, and you realize she probably has no context for anything that’s happening.

“Oh! It’s ok! It’s just rain,” you explain, feeling a bit like Steven. He’s told you of the time Peridot had to learn about rain, and then all the new Homeworld Gems did as well. 

“It’s gonna be cold and wet for a while but it just seems like a regular rain storm, so we’ll be ok,” you continue. “But uh, I need to make sure I stay warm so I don’t get sick.”

You glance to the larger lean-to, and groan slightly when you realize Spinel will have to sit in there with you until the rain stops.

“Um, let’s go sit inside,” you mumble, quickly taking the Gems’ hand and pulling her over to the hut. You duck under and move to the corner, making room for Spinel. It’s a tight fit, but you can at least lean against the far “wall”, which is really just the tree it’s propped up against, covered in branches and leaves. 

You settle in and find yourself shivering, your clothes and hair soaked thoroughly. Spinel notices your shaking and concern flashes across her face, her brows knitted together. As you wrap your arms around yourself, trying in vain to warm up, Spinel moves closer to you.

“Uh...listen, y’don’t look too hot there, uh...I could try and keep you warm if you’d like,” she says softly, staring at the ground between you.

Your stomach flips at her suggestion. You’re not entirely sure why, but the prospect makes you...nervous and excited at the same time. You don’t want to make things awkward or weird, but...you really need to get warm.

“O-okay, just so I don’t freeze, all right?”

She nods in agreement and scoots over until she’s directly next to you against the tree.

“I...think this would work best if I wrap you up, uh...like before. At least for now, until you feel warmer?” she says hesitantly, clearly not wanting to make you more uncomfortable.

Your heart beats faster as you nod, and move forwards so she’s able to reach all of you. She stretches her arms to wrap around your middle, and then your arms, encircling them slowly, glancing at your face every now and then to gauge your reactions.

For the most part you feel okay, though you can’t help flash back to the moment when Spinel took you. But this is so different, it’s...strangely comfortable. And definitely helping with the warmth. You shift back against the tree, trying to get in a position that you can stay in for a while. And trying very hard not to think about how good this feels.

Spinel leans back with you, staring anxiously down at your wrapped form.

“Is...is this ok?” she asks quietly, sounding unsure. 

“Yeah, this is...actually helping a lot,” you admit, noticing that you’ve stopped shivering. A sigh escapes your lips as you settle back further, closing your eyes. “It’s actually...really relaxing...”

You’re suddenly very warm and sleepy, and after all the hard labor you’ve been doing the past couple days, you’re not surprised in the least.

“Is it ok if I try and sleep?” you ask Spinel, your eyes still shut.

“Y-yeah, you should rest, Y/n,” she replies kindly.

You stay silent after that, and try to drift off to the sound of the rain and the feeling of being held. Your current position is making it rather difficult, however, as every time you start to fall asleep, your head droops forward or to the side and the sudden motion wakes you back up.

“Ughh...” you groan in frustration, opening your eyes and leaning your head back against the tree. “I’m so bad at sleeping sitting up.”

“Lemme help,” Spinel suddenly offers, and she moves as close to you as possible, keeping her arms stretched around you. 

“Lean on me,” she suggests, looking down to her shoulder.

Your eyes widen and your face heats up, and this time it’s you avoiding Spinel’s eyes as you nod and settle in against the taller gem. She’s strangely comfortable, for such a thin being. 

“Thank you, Spins,” you say sleepily, thankfully slipping back into your drowsy state once more. After a few minutes, you feel Spinel’s head rest against yours, and as you drift off in her warm embrace, you realize you could get used to this. 


	6. Together

Spinel was in awe, to say the least. It felt like every point of contact with you was on fire, every nerve in her body was heightened. It had been so long since she had contact like this with someone...in fact, had she ever had anything like this? She can barely think of anything else but you right now. The soft, steady sound of your breathing as you sleep, the small noises you make as you shift against her, and the way you sigh happily when she gives you a little squeeze. 

She can almost forget how she’s probably messed everything up with you. All she wanted was to be your friend, at first, but now...is it possible to want something more with you? Even though it’s impossible for you to want the same? 

Spinel sighs, and tries to clear the panicked thoughts from her mind. She could worry later. For now, she wants to just enjoy this night with you in her arms... 

** _ x * x * x * x * x _ **

You wake slowly, your body totally relaxed, feeling incredibly well rested. It takes you a moment to register where you are, and another moment to realize what- or who- you're resting on. 

Spinel must have moved you in the night; you’re no longer on her left side with your head on her shoulder. Instead you’re sitting in between her legs, head tucked under her chin, right near her gem. You blink in surprise as you look at it- you've never seen it this close before, and hadn’t realized how faceted and large it really is in comparison to the lanky Gem. 

In that moment, Spinel shifts and squeezes you slightly, prompting you to close your eyes and smile slightly to yourself. No matter your conflicted feelings towards her, you can’t deny that this level of contact just feels wonderful. It had been a while since you’d gotten to spend the night with someone like this, and even though these were bizarre circumstances, you can’t help but feel happy here. 

Spinel doesn’t seem to have realized you’re awake yet, and you're considering pretending to still be asleep, when a shiver wracks your body, making you sit upright involuntarily. You realize Spinel had basically unwrapped herself from you at some point, save for her arms around your waist a few times around. It had stopped raining, so she must have assumed you would be warm again, but hadn’t considered the early morning chill. From what little you could see of the sky in your lean-to, it couldn’t have been later than 5 or 6 am, the sun hadn’t been up long enough to warm the island up. 

“Oh! Uh, good mornin’,” Spinel says, meeting your eyes after you sit up. 

“Hi,” you say plainly. “Sorry if I startled you, I guess I got cold again...at least it stopped raining though?” 

Spinel nods and answers, “Nah, you’re fine, just wasn’t expectin’ you to be up so early. The rain stopped a few hours ago I think...I kindalost track of time.” 

You give her a sleepy smile and stretch your arms above your head with a yawn (not noticing Spinel’s eyes grow as wide as dinner plates) and stare out to the campsite, mourning your poor fire. 

“Wish I’d been able to bring some sweaters or something,” you mumble to yourself, wrapping your arms around your knees. 

Spinel winces visibly and reaches out a tentative hand to you. “Well, I- If ya wanna go back to sleep, you can...” she trails off and looks down at her hand, and you quickly realize what she means. 

“Oh...thanks, Spins, I think I’ll just stay up for now...” you glance back outside, “Actually, I might walk around a bit, see what else I can find in terms of food or other stuff?” 

You climb out of the lean-to as you’re talking, prompting Spinel to follow you. 

“Y-yeah, okay! D’ya want me to come with?” Spinel asks eagerly, following you around the camp as you pick up debris from the storm. 

At her question, you stop what you’re doing and turn to her. “Oh, uh...I was hoping I might have some time alone, if that’s okay? I just... I need some alone time every now and then.” 

You offer her what you hope to be a sympathetic look, as you know that doesn’t sound great after literally spending the night together. 

Spinel’s face turns a pale pink as she blanches and crosses her arms. “That’s...fine,” she manages to get out. You can tell she’s wary at being left alone, but you really do just need some time. Time to yourself, to think, to figure everything out. 

“I won’t be more than an hour or so,” you tell the Gem, and you see her relax slightly. 

_ “That’s good,” you think, slightly surprised at how easy that conversation went compared to last time, when she had been rejuvenated and Steven was leaving her behind. _ “She definitely seems to be trying to work through her issues.” _ _

Once you’ve cleared the camp of most of the fallen leaves and branches, you grab a banana from the small storage lean-to. Miraculously, most of the bananas are fine, save for a few that have fallen out of the wrapped leaves. You bid Spinel goodbye for now, and make your way to the beach. 

You had told the Gem you wanted to look for supplies, and while that was true to an extent, now you want to just lie on the sand in the warm sun. You finish your banana, toss the peel, and plop down, spreading your arms out and soaking in the morning rays. 

Back in Beach City, you were used to spending a lot of your time alone. Sure, you had your coworkers at the café, and you hung out with the Gems when they were free, but you really valued the time you had to yourself. You would frequently take walks on the beach or boardwalk at night, listening to music or just gazing out at the moon-lit sea. You had a collection of books that you loved to take to the café when you weren’t working, and enjoyed just sitting, reading, and sipping on your drink of choice for the day. Hell, even when you would spend time with Pearl, you two would often just co-exist in the same place, Pearl working on something in the house while you read a book or surfed the various apps on your phone. 

Having Spinel around...was nicer than you thought it would be, especially last night, but even now she’s acting like you’re the new Steven, like you’re her new best friend. You can’t tell if she genuinely cares for you or if she’s just so incredibly lonely that she’s latched onto you for treating her differently than everyone else had. You wish you could believe it was the former, but...you just have no idea. 

“Ughhh,” you groan, and sit up in frustration. Why does everything have to be so complicated with her? 

You think back to how you felt last night, and this morning, waking up in her arms. That...didn’t feel so complicated at the time. It just felt nice, and comforting. Why couldn’t it feel that easy all the time? Why did your brain have to constantly remind you of what she’s done, of how she really is? Or was, at least. Spinel has definitely been keeping her anger in check since that first day, and you can tell she thinks about her actions as much as you do, if not more. 

_“Why can’t I just let myself forgive her?” _you think, burying your face in your hands. _“I guess...I just need more time.” _

Shaking your head, you stand up and walk towards the water, wading in up to your ankles. The water is fairly warm around this time of year, so you’re grateful that you won’t be freezing if you ever decide to go for a swim. Suddenly, movement to your left catches your eye- a reflection off of a few fish in the sun, swimming close to shore with the gentle waves. 

An idea pops into your head- something that will give you and Spinel something to do other than mope around, and at the end, you’ll possibly have a new source of food. 

_ ** x * x * x * x * x ** _

You make your way back to the camp, eager to tell your idea to Spinel. Luckily, she hasn’t wandered off to another part of the island. 

“Spinel!” You call out as you approach the camp. You hear the popping before you see it, but as you come into the clearing, you can clearly see the roaring fire in the center radiating warmth. 

“Oh, wow, you got the fire going? Thank you so much,” you say gratefully to the Gem, who is sitting by the small waterfall. 

“Eh, no problem, Y/n. Figured I could do something while you were out, too,” she says happily, looking proudly on the lit fire. Her eyebrows furrow and she looks back to you, confused. 

“Say, weren’t you gatherin’ stuff just now? You didn’t come back with anything.” 

“Oh! Right, that,” you say with a chuckle. “I was going to look for more leaves and branches and stuff for the lean-to and the fire, but I went to the beach and I saw _ fish!” _

You grin expectantly at her, but she still looks confused, standing up and scratching her head. 

“Uh...what’s fish?” she asks simply. 

“O-oh, right, Gem and all. I forgot,” you say, excitement not deterred by Spinel’s lack of fish knowledge. “It’s just something that lives in the sea, but if we catch them and cook them, I can eat something other than bananas!” 

Spinel gives you a slight smirk, amused at your enthusiasm. “Well all right, let’s go get some fish!” 

The two of you make your way back to the beach, and you’re relieved to see the fish haven’t swam off. In fact, there seem to be more shimmering fish than there were earlier. You’re incredibly thrilled at the prospect of eating something other than bananas, so you look around for a stick you can whittle into a point. 

After you find one near the edge of the trees, you grab a rock and head back down to the waves, where Spinel is inspecting the water. 

“Oh yeah, I guess you haven’t had much time to check out the ocean,” you remark, sitting down and sharpening the end of the stick. 

"It’s certainly interesting,” Spinel remarks, bending down to inspect some shells left behind by the tide. 

You watch her while you whittle and smile to yourself. Seeing Gems learn about Earth for the first time has always made you appreciate your home planet more, but something about seeing Spinel like this makes your heart happy. 

After a few more moments, you inspect the end of your stick, and decide that it’s to your liking. 

“All right! Let’s get this show on the road!” you announce, standing in what you hope to be an authoritative pose. 

“Oh yeah? What show? All I see is you,” Spinel teases, snorting in laughter. 

Your pose falls, and you give her a teasing roll of the eyes. “Ahh, you’re no fun. I _ am _ the show, baby!” 

With that you make your way slowly into the water, careful to not disturb the nearby school of fish. You realize Spinel is still standing on the shore, and you turn back and cock an eyebrow up at her. 

“Well? You coming in or what?” 

Spinel looks from you out to the distant waves, then back to you, and grins. She begins wading in, flinching slightly when a wave breaks over her legs, and you giggle at the Gem. She’s definitely not quite used to all the oddities of your planet, but in a way, you’re proud of her for trying to adapt so quickly. 

After a moment she’s in the waist high water with you, and you send a playful splash over her way, a teasing grin on your face. 

“Heh, hey darlin’, thought you were gonna catch some fish? Don’t get distracted now,” she teases back, her eyes slightly narrowed. 

You chuckle and nod, “All right, all right. Food now, play later. Let’s hope I’m coordinated enough for this...” 

You make your way over to where the school of fish is swimming, being careful not to disturb any of the sand. You pick your target- a larger fish in the center of the school- and ready your stick above the water. 

“All right...and...” 

You strike down hard- too hard. The fish moves before you can spear it, and the force of your swing sends your feet flying out from under you and plants you face first into the water. A wave breaks over you in that instant, and you’re having a hard time getting to your feet, when- 

“_Y/n!! _” 

Spinel lifts you up from behind, supporting under your arm with one hand and steadying your back with the other. 

“Are you okay? That looked...not fun,” Spinel remarks in a worried tone. 

But you just burst out laughing. Of all the things to do...of course you would fall face first in the water. You know you must have looked ridiculous, and can’t help laughing more at that mental image. 

“W-what? Well I guess you’re okay, doll...” Spinel says, a smile easing onto her face now that she knows you’re okay. 

“Hah...oh man...yeah, I’m fine, Spinel, thanks,” you say as the laughter dies down. “Oh gosh...I can’t believe I just did that. I mean, the ocean can be a bitch, but it’s so calm here and...ahh, that was hilarious.” 

You take note that Spinel still holds onto you, and you can’t help but flush at the contact, reminded of spending last night in her arms. It feels like your every nerve is on fire when she touches you... 

“It _did _look pretty funny,” Spinel says with a laugh, bringing you out of your thoughts. “You just kinda...plopped forward! It was great!” She’s full on grinning now, and it’s infectious- you can’t help but grin back and start laughing again. Suddenly, all cravings for fish forgotten, you get an idea. 

“Oh yeah? I was funny, huh? Well how bout_ this _?” On your last word, you send a giant splash her way, giggling at her taken aback expression when it washes over the top of her head. 

But when the water clears, you literally take a step back at her expression, eyes going wide. She looks positively mischievous, her eyes narrowed and a wicked grin on her face. 

“Now now, dollface, d’ya really wanna mess with me?” 

She giggles in a devilishly playful way, and begins to spin her torso and arms around, not unlike a spin top, sending water flying every direction, including directly at you. You can hear her laughter above the other sounds, and you can’t help but join in, even as she inches closer to you, prompting you to cover your face in surrender, still laughing. 

“All right, all right, I think you made your point, Spins,” you call out, ducking your head to avoid getting saltwater in your eyes. The nickname is certainly very fitting for the current situation. The pink Gem slows, still wearing a huge grin, and looks triumphantly down at you. 

“Ha! I win!” She exclaims in a sing song voice, folding her arms in front of her. 

You chuckle and take her by the hand, leading her back to shore. “Yeah, you win. Don’t rub it in, hmm?” you say with a shake of your head. 

Once you arrive on shore, you look back out to the water and sigh. 

“So much for delicious fish...” 

“Aw, don’t worry about it, yeah? We can always try again some other time,” Spinel says, patting your back gently. You look up at the taller gem and offer her a small smile. 

“Yeah, that’s true. I can live with bananas for now, anyway.” 

After all that work and fun, you wish you could just lie in the warm sand and take a nap, but your clothes are soaked. You want them to be dry by nightfall, so you know it’s time to head back to the camp. Besides, you need some more water and bananas. 

“Well, let’s head back for now,” you say to Spinel, “I’m getting a bit chilly, let’s sit by the fire.” 

Spinel shoots you a shy smile and nods, following you back through the trees to your base. 

“It’s so interesting learnin’ about humans,” Spinel remarks, “I mean, stuff like rain, the ocean, the cold...it doesn’t really affect me, y’know? Seeing you have to deal with all that, it’s kinda weird, but intriguing at the same time. I almost want to know what it feels like,” she finishes with a chuckle. 

“What, being cold? Or just weather in general?” you say teasingly. 

She snorts in response. “Nah, just...being human? I guess? It’s dumb,” she says, ducking her head in shyness as she sits down by the fire. 

Your eyebrows shoot up at her admission- you can’t ever recall hearing a Gem talk about wanting to be human, not even Amethyst or Lapis. Spinel must really be hurting inside to want to just...be something else entirely. 

“Ah, Spinel...” 

You wring out your wet shirt and shorts to the best of your ability before sitting down beside her. You hesitate before placing a hand on her upper arm, wanting to reassure her that you’re here. 

“I know that with everything you’ve been through...it must be so tough to just exist for so long, I guess, but being human isn’t all that great. Hell, it’s not all that different from being a Gem. Well, besides the aging and the weather and...no cool powers...” 

You stop yourself, sighing and looking down. “Ah, I’m crap at this, I’m sorry. I’m just trying to say...you’re great the way you are, Spinel. And hey, you’re on Earth now, you can still experience all this stuff, even if it’s not in the exact same way that humans experience it.” 

You offer her a patient smile, which she returns happily. 

“You’re not so bad at this, Y/n,” Spinel says softly, wiping at her eyes. “And uh...I’m glad I’m experiencing stuff now. Here.” 

You nod and gaze into the fire, mind racing a million miles a minute. Finally, you find the words to reply, “Yeah. Me too.” 

** _ x * x * x * x * x _ **

After your clothes have dried (it took longer than you expected- you knew it would have gone faster if you’d taken them off but you were not about to strip in front of Spinel), you and Spinel stay out by the fire a while longer, until well past sunset. You munch on bananas as you talk, telling her about your childhood, how you visited Beach City every summer with your parents, and couldn’t keep away after you left home for college. She told you about what little time she’d spent on Homeworld, but she mostly recounted more of her days in the Garden with Pink- how looking back now she could see that Pink had been uninterested and even annoyed with her antics sometimes. But what was she supposed to do? It was what she had been made for. 

You both fell silent for a while after that, you being unsure how to comfort the Gem, and Spinel simply lost in her memories. 

The minutes pass, and you can feel your eyes grow heavier with sleep, but some part of you doesn’t want to go into the shelter alone just yet. You try to force yourself to stay awake, to stay out here by the fire with her. But just as it had the night before, your head lolls to the side onto Spinel’s shoulder... 

“Woah there, you okay?” Spinel asks, cupping your head with her left hand. 

“Hmm?...O-oh!” You shoot up, extremely embarrassed, and you can feel your face flushing like hell. “S-sorry, Spinel, I got warm and sleepy, I’m sorry...” 

“Hey, no need to apologize, darlin’. You seem tired, yeah? Wanna go to bed?” she asks in a comforting voice. 

“Mhm...yeah, I think I need to,” you reply, standing up and stretching with a yawn. “Goodnight, Spinel.” 

You send her a soft smile before heading into the lean-to, thoughts racing. 

_“She keeps calling me all these pet names...is it just a habit? Because of how she speaks? Why do I care?” _

You plop to the ground with a groan and try to get comfortable on your leaf bed for the night. You can’t deny that you feel like something has changed today, with your feelings towards Spinel and the way she’s acting...but it’s just too confusing to think about. It can wait until morning... 

** _ x * x * x * x * x _ **

When you wake, it’s not a stream of morning sunlight that greets you, but soft moonlight. You’re facing the center of camp and the fire has died down slightly, but luckily, it’s a warmer night so you barely notice a chill. But you can’t see Spinel anywhere...where is she? 

Before you can start to panic about where she might have gone, you hear a voice from just outside the tent. 

“I know I never should have done all this, but...I was scared, Y/n,” Spinel says. It seems like she’s continuing some conversation...has she been talking to you while you slept? You don’t know if this counts as an invasion of privacy, but you want to know what she has to say, so you make sure to stay very still and act as if you’re still asleep. 

“I was scared that no one could ever like me for who I am, so I lashed out. But then...you seemed to like me. Even when I was annoying and innocent, you were patient and kind to me. And then I go and do _ this...” _

She trails off, and you hear her sniff- she's crying softly. Your heart aches; you want to go out and comfort her, but you’re frozen in place. Too scared to face her right now, you stay and listen. 

“I- I just care about ya so much, and I’ve never...felt like this before. So when Steven...when I thought he was gonna make me forget again, I just panicked and took you and ran. You were right that first day- I didn’t think anything through. I just wanted to have you around, but...” 

Spinel sighs, “I don’t know why I’m even doin’ this...I can’t seem to talk to ya when you’re awake, not to say the things I really want to say, so...what’s the point.” 

She picks herself up off the ground, and moves back by the fire, stoking it until the flames grow again. You can’t bear to watch her anymore, so you turn around to face the wall of the lean-to, wondering how you’ll ever get back to sleep with this new information rattling around in your head. 

_“I guess this answers the question of how she feels about me...” _

When the morning comes, your stomach does flips at the first sight of Spinel, who is just arriving back from a walk as you emerge from the shelter. You try desperately to hide any emotion from your face, but you can’t help giving her a small smile as she heads toward you. 

“Mornin’, Y/n!” Spinel says cheerfully, any hint of the sadness from last night gone. “Took a walk around again, and I even took a crack at makin’ ya something...” 

She pulls out a newly whittled fishing stick from behind her back, and you grin. 

“Think I should try again, huh?” you remark, taking the spear and inspecting it. 

“Hey, I saw all those faces you were making eating those bananas last night,” she replies with a giggle. “Figured it couldn’t hurt to keep at it, yeah?” 

You nod enthusiastically in reply. “Yeah, for sure! Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy bananas, but...eating them for 3 days straight has been very...odd,” you inform the Gem, “Let me just get ready and we can go try again!” 

After a while, you head over to the beach where you saw the fish yesterday. It’s cloudier today, so it won’t be as easy to spot the shimmering scales without the sun. Spinel heads right into the water to help, able to get a great vantage point if she stretches her legs. You can’t help but stare at the Gem now towering above you. 

_"Gosh she’s pretty,” _ you think almost involuntarily, and then make a face at yourself. _ “The hell? Ugh, what is happening to my brain...” _

But still, you can’t tear your eyes away from Spinel, who’s oblivious to your gaze. She’s completely focused on her self-assigned task, and you can’t help but recall when she used her stretchiness the other night to help you in a different way. 

You’re pulled out of your thoughts by her voice from above, calling out that she’s spotted some fish a little further down the beach. You head over, once again careful not to disturb the sand. 

You get into position slowly, and make your swing at a random fish, but once again, you’re too slow. Luckily this time you don’t plummet face first into the surf, but you’re disappointed all the same. 

“Aw, Y/n, it’s okay,” Spinel says, snapping back to her usual height and walking over to you. “We can try for as long as ya like, ok?” 

You sigh and agree, trying not to be too discouraged. Spinel squeezes your arm once and rushes forward, eager to keep scouting. You blush and follow her, realizing that you may need to figure out your emotions eventually. 

_“I can’t keep ignoring this,” _ you think, your heart pounding fast. 

The following hours are rather grueling for you, especially as the sun starts to come out from behind the clouds and heat the island up. While that makes it slightly easier to spot fish, you still need Spinel’s help for some of it (and it’s definitely not an excuse to stare at her while she can’t see you). 

All the while you’re trying to work through your thoughts and feelings towards the Gem. Logically, you know you should still be wary of her, but since that first day she’s not given you any reason to distrust her or even fear her. And she clearly regrets what she’s done...though that makes you wonder why she hasn’t chosen to take you back. 

_“Maybe something happened to the injector when she left it somewhere?” _ you rationalize while following a school of fish. You shake your head and try to focus, thinking of how delicious a nice warm fish would be to end the day. 

You pick out your target and once again swing down, hoping... 

_ Squish. _

“Oh! Oh!” you cry out happily as you pull your stick from the surf. Sure enough, there’s a fairly big fish impaled at the end, and you managed to get it so that there’s plenty of fish left to cook. 

“Did ya get something?” Spinel calls out, heading over to you from her spotting position. 

“Yes! Ahh this is great!” you say, jumping up and down with joy. “And it only took four hours!” 

“Seriously, great job, doll,” Spinel compliments, “You worked hard for this.” 

You give her a grateful smile. “Well I’m glad to have had your help, Spins. Couldn’t have done it without you.” You nudge her with your shoulder as you both head back to shore, prompting her to blush and scratch the back of her neck. 

“Aw gee, it’s no problem...like I said, can’t stand seeing ya make those faces at the bananas anymore,” she jokes halfheartedly. You can tell she’s flattered, though, and the thought makes you feel all warm and happy. 

As you both walk back to the camp, slimy fish in hand, you’re struck with an unfortunate thought- you have no idea how to cook a fish, at least not well. Every fish you’ve ever eaten has either been at a restaurant, or already skinned, frozen, and cut in a nice filet, ready to pop in the oven. 

_“I’m just _ _ gonna _ _ have to wing it,” _ you figure. 

Thankfully only your bottom half got wet from the waves this time, so no need to dry off before doing anything. You get right to it- attempting to fashion some sort of table atop the fire to place your fish on, wrapping it in leaves, and then you wait. You have no idea if this will work or not, so you’ve resigned yourself to bananas in the off chance it ends up being a bust. 

In the meantime, you sit in the shade by the waterfall, sipping and trying to cool down. Spinel sits next to you after adding more twigs to the roaring fire. 

“Well, that was a productive day,” you remark as she seats herself next to you. 

“Tell me about it,” Spinel replies, “I’m all stretched out!” 

She strikes a dramatic pose, hand to her forehead, and then deflates into what can only be described as Spinel spaghetti. 

You crack up at the sight, endlessly amused at the different ways she can use her stretchiness for so many different things. 

“Damn, Spins, that looks...interesting,” you say through your laughter, causing her to spring back to her normal self. 

“Hey, I get the feelin’ that ‘interesting’ meant something else there, toots,” she says with a teasing smile, her eyes narrowed. Your heart jumps at the look she’s giving you, and you have to look away, her gaze becoming too much for you. 

“H-hey, just saying what I’m thinking,” you reply, staring down into the pond and blushing. 

“That’s somethin’ I like about you, Y/n,” Spinel replies, her tone completely serious now. “You’re never one to beat around the bush. It’s admirable. It’s...something I wish Pink would have been able to do for me.” 

She leans back on her hands and sighs, staring straight ahead. You place a tentative hand atop hers in what you hope to be a comforting gesture. 

“I understand,” you say simply, “but...I’m not Pink, y’know? I get that she hurt you, but it’s over now...you don’t have to give her the power to hurt you anymore.” 

Spinel’s eyes widen, and you’re surprised to see that for once, she doesn’t cry when Pink is brought up. Instead she smiles, the kindest, gentlest smile you’ve ever seen, and her eyes light up as you gaze into them. 

“Thank you,” she whispers. “I-” 

She stops herself suddenly, a confused look falling over her face. “What’s that smell?” 

You sniff the air as well, and bolt up when you realize what it is. 

“Ah, damn it! Nooo,” you cry, trying to move the hot leaf-wrapped fish from the makeshift grill you had crafted. It’s incredibly hot, but you grab another nearby leaf and shimmy the fish onto that, making sure not to drop it into the sand. 

You let out a sigh of relief as you open the leaf and see that the fish is cooked and not, in fact, burnt. The leaf is slightly burned through at the bottom where it was facing the open flame, but peeling that off peels off some of the fish skin, and you can see that the meat underneath actually looks decently similar to fish you’ve eaten in the past. 

“Success!” you cry triumphantly, grinning back at Spinel. She watches you bemusedly, not moving from her perch on the rocks. 

“Well, go ahead, try it!” she encourages. 

You do- and it’s amazing. The skin left on leaves something to be desired, you’d normally eat around the skin or opt for a skinless fillet at home- but beggars can’t be choosers, and you’re grateful to have a hot meal for the first time in almost a week. It’s flavorful, too, probably thanks to the combination of it being so fresh, the open flame, and maybe even the leaf you wrapped it in for cooking. 

“That good, huh?” Spinel remarks as you let out an involuntary sigh of happiness. “Maybe I’ll have to try somethin’ one of these days.” 

“Hey, you can try some of this if you want,” you reply, offering the fish to your companion. 

But Spinel makes a face as she stares at the cooked fish, and you giggle in response. 

“Maybe I’ll try a banana or something tomorrow instead,” Spinel comments, shuddering while still staring at the fish. You laugh out loud and go back to your catch of the day, pleased with the way everything has turned out so far. 

** _ x * x * x * x * x _ **

A while later, you’ve finished your dinner and the sun has started to dip below the horizon line, making your section of the island rather dark. You’re doing some last minute clean up with Spinel when she suddenly stops and turns to you. 

“H-hey, do you wanna go for a walk while we still have some daylight?” she asks. 

“Sure, that sounds nice...let me just finish piling up this extra kindling,” you reply, and try to hurry the task along. Spinel stands at the edge of the tree line, fidgeting and looking nervous for some reason. You stride over her and try to give her a comforting look, but she won’t meet your eyes anymore. The thought that you might have done something wrong makes your heart sink, and you follow her to the beach without another word. 

As you break through the tree line to the shore, Spinel turns abruptly and begins walking, her longer legs making it difficult for you to keep pace with her. You walk behind her for a few minutes, fretting about why she might suddenly be acting this way. 

_“What did I do? Did I make her mad somehow?” _

You run through every little interaction you’ve had in the past few hours, but nothing stands out to you as something that could have angered the pink Gem. 

After another few minutes of quick walking, you call out to Spinel. 

“Hey, can you...can you slow down, maybe? I can’t keep up, is something wrong?” 

You try to keep the worry out of your voice but you can hear that you fail. Your voice sounds small and meek, and suddenly you don’t care anymore. You just want to know what’s wrong so you can try to remedy it. You don’t know when exactly you started caring for Spinel so deeply, but in this instant, you realize that the past...what she’s done to you...it doesn’t matter anymore. You’ve seen her regret and you’ve seen her trying to grow and change for the better, and you just want to see her happy. And maybe one day, she can be happy with you... 

“N-nothin’s wrong, Y/n,” Spinel replies shakily, “Listen, I...” 

She sighs and wraps her arms around herself, her posture looking strangely human. 

“I’ve been thinking that...there’s no point to you staying here anymore,” Spinel finally says, looking downcast. “I can’t keep you here forever and you deserve to be with your friends, with people you care about, with...food you can eat that isn’t bananas or fish,” she continues with a sad chuckle. 

“I’ll take ya back to Beach City, Y/n.” 

You can feel your mouth drop open, trying to find the words to reply. This is not at all what you had expected her to say. Take you back...? 

“Spinel, I...” you start, and then something registers. 

“You said you’d take _ me _back. What about you? Will you come back with me?” 

Spinel shakes her head sadly, and turns to the sunset, the sky a beautiful vibrant orange. But in this moment it only feels gloomy. 

“I- I can’t go back there. I’ve done so much bad in the short time I’ve been on Earth, and the way we left...I’m better off being alone where I can’t hurt anyone else. Including you.” 

You shake your head vigorously and rush to Spinel’s side, willing her to look you in the eyes. 

“Spinel, you don’t know them like I do, if we all sit down and talk about everything and show them that you’ve changed, it will be fine! They’ll forgive you and you can have a chance to start over!” 

Spinel rolls her eyes and rounds on you, her eyes wild and sad. “Changed? I haven’t changed! I’m still angry all the time, Y/n! I’m still miserable all the time! How can I show them something that hasn’t happened?” 

Tears well in the corners of her eyes, and your heart breaks. You take her hands and squeeze, trying to ground her. 

“Spinel, you _have _changed. I know it’s hard for you to see it, but even when it’s just us talking, I can tell you’ve been getting better. You didn’t even cry when we were talking about Pink earlier,” you point out, giving her a hopeful smile. 

A small sob wracks the Gem’s body and she turns away, shutting her eyes. 

“I just...can’t go back there right now.” 

You nod in understanding and let go of her hands as you watch the emotions subside. 

“Then I’ll stay here with you.” 

Spinel’s head whips back to you in surprise, her eyebrows raised in disbelief. 

“What...? Y/n, you don’t have to do that for me,” she replies softly. 

“I’m not doing it for you,” you reply plainly, “Or at least...not totally.” 

You flush as you try to find the right way to phrase this, to tell her about what you’ve been feeling the past few days. 

“Spinel, ever since I met you, you’ve felt...different, than anyone I’ve met before. And that’s not just because you’re a Gem- I know loads of Gems back in Beach City. They’re some of my best friends. But when I met you the first time, before you were rejuvenated...I could see the pain in your eyes, in your actions. I was scared of you at the time, but I was also sad for you. Then meeting your ‘past’ self, you were just so full of life, of energy. And a little mischievous,” you say with a laugh, earning a chuckle from Spinel as well. 

“But when I learned what had happened to you, I can’t tell you how that felt. I thought I was going to throw up or pass out from the pain, and I can’t even begin to imagine how that had felt for you. How it must have caused your form to change...” you glance sadly at her gem, before continuing. 

“And yeah, you may have messed up by bringing me here, and I know I was mad at you for a while, but...I’m not anymore. And I don’t even want to just be friends with you, I...I want something more,” you confess, the last few words quiet. 

“But I know you and I see who you are and I just think you’re wonderful-” 

And suddenly, you find you can’t speak anymore. 

Because Spinel is kissing you. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so excited to post this chapter. I told ya it was a slow burn! But we're finally there!! I hope everyone enjoys it!


	7. Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Added new tags for this chapter, make sure to check before reading just in case!

For a moment, you can do little more than stand still in shock as Spinel moves over you. You feel her tear stained cheeks against yours, you feel her hands slowly find their way into yours. But once the initial shock wears off, you give in to her, give in to the heightened emotions and sensations like you’ve wanted to for days now. 

You keep one hand in hers, but move your other up to her shoulder, trying to steady yourself against the taller Gem who leans into you like you’re her lifeline. Her mouth moves against yours, soft and unsure- you doubt she’s ever done this before, but she’s certainly not the worst you’ve ever had... 

Suddenly, she seems to find courage, and wraps her lanky arms once around you, squeezing ever so slightly. You welcome the sensation and grip both her shoulders with your hands, sighing softly into the kiss. She grows more forceful, more needy, and presses you up against her. You’re happy to let her take charge, but you reciprocate the effort, reaching up to wrap an arm around the back of her neck and press her closer to you. Her lips are thin and soft against yours, and you find yourself holding back a moan- she is undeniably attractive like this. You’re so used to her being rather quiet and unsure, for her to take charge like this is just... wonderful. 

As quickly as it happened, it ends all too soon. Spinel pulls away and rests her forehead against yours, staring downcast at the sand beneath you, and you’re left to catch your breath and try to get your heartrate down. 

“I...I’m sorry,” she says softly, beginning to loosen her hold. 

You snap your head up, meeting her eyes fiercely. 

“Don’t you be sorry for this,” you breathe out, full of emotion. “I... I wanted this too.” 

“R-really?” Spinel asks, pulling back to look you directly in the eyes. 

You meet her gaze easily, hoping she can see the resolve on your face. “Yeah, Spins...I meant what I said just now, I’ve...really grown to care about you, and it wasn’t until the past day or so that I really tried to figure out what that meant for me. I think I realized you meant more to me than just a friend the night you helped me keep warm... Waking up like that with you was just...so special...” 

You start to tear up, the hours of being on edge and heightened emotions catching up to you. Spinel unwraps an arm from you and cups your face, wiping away the small tears that begin to fall. 

“Hey, hey, I thought I was the crier ‘round here,” Spinel says softly, trying to lighten the mood. You lean into her touch and smile, your heart soaring at this intimate contact. 

“I can cry enough for the both of us,” you mumble back, smiling and pressing a light kiss into her palm. 

The two of you stay like that for a moment, just soaking in each other’s company and touch, both more touch starved than you had realized. After a few minutes Spinel sighs happily and pulls away slowly, gazing at you with affection. 

“So what now?” she mutters, turning to admire the setting sun over the ocean. 

“Well...I promised you I’d stay here with you, and I will,” you reply, taking her hand in your own. “And along the way, I guess we just see what happens?” 

Spinel smiles back at you, her eyes shining in the twilight. “Yeah, Y/n... I’d like that.”

** _x * x * x * x * x _ **

You stay on the beach a little while longer, so you can watch the night sky and stars. You end up sitting by the waves, both a little nervous around each other, but both incredibly excited. 

“So Homeworld really doesn’t have stuff like this?” you ask, idly picking through the sand to look for interesting shells. 

“What, the ocean?”

You nod in affirmation. “The ocean, sunsets...It’s so weird to me that another planet that hosts life can be so different from Earth,” you remark. 

“I guess since we aren’t organic, we didn’t need to meet the same conditions that humans did to live on Earth?” Spinel speculates, watching the waves lap at her feet. 

You raise your eyebrows at her comment. You knew she wasn’t stupid, obviously, but you hadn’t expected her to know much about planet conditions for life. 

“Huh. You’re probably right.” 

You turn back towards the horizon, and flinch when you see a large incoming wave. It’s too close to avoid, so you can do nothing but sit and let it wash over you, giggling as the water recedes once more. 

“Aww, what happened?” Spinel teases in a sing-song voice, “Did the mean old ocean attack ya?” 

You shoot her a playful glare. “Hey, you got hit a little too,” you point out, motioning to her wet legs. “Such is the hazard of sitting near the water, I suppose.” 

You glance around at your sides and spot a large shell in the sand, washed up by the wave a few moments ago. You snag it and stand up. 

“We should head back now though, I’ve gotta dry off before I sleep,” you say with a sigh. Sleep may have to wait now that your clothes are soaked. 

She nods and stands as well, giving you a shy smile. 

“Oh, and....here,” you say quietly, holding out your simple shell. “It’s, uh, just a shell, but I always like to have little trinkets to remember moments by, and since you’re new to the Earth and all... well, I thought you might like it,” you finish shyly, praying she doesn’t think it’s dumb. 

She takes the shell from you, staring at it in wonder. You can’t help but smile at the look on her face. You know she has seen shells while you’ve been here, so why is she so intrigued by this one? 

“Y/n, thank you,” she whispers, gazing past the shell to meet your eyes. “Since it’s from you...I’ll keep it forever.” 

“Oh,” you reply, blushing furiously at her promise, “W-well that’s very sweet of you.” 

You turn back towards camp and begin the trek back, butterflies still fluttering in your stomach. Is this how it’s supposed to be? You haven’t been in a real relationship for so long, you’ve forgotten what the norm is. Maybe it’s just something about Spinel that puts you on edge and makes you excited... 

When you arrive back at camp, you stoke the fire, adding more firewood and kindling to make sure the flames are as large as possible. You watch as Spinel hunts for a spot to keep her new treasure from you, and you grin to yourself as she places it near the waterfall, giving it a cute pat as she puts it down. 

Turning back to the task at hand, you wring out your clothes to the best of your ability, but it seems you may actually need to lay them out near the fire this time- you don’t want to be stuck in wet clothes when the night air turns cold. 

With a nervous sigh you turn to Spinel, who has moved to stand against a tree, watching you work. 

“U-um, Spinel, I... think I have to take these off now,” you mutter, gesturing down at your garments. “They’ll dry faster if they’re not on me... do you mind looking away for a while?” 

Spinel furrows her brows in confusion. “Look away? Why?” 

You let out a shaky breath and explain, “Humans... sometimes we’re self-conscious of our bodies and don’t like how we look without clothes. I... I’m just not much to look at.” 

Spinel crosses the gap between you and places a warm hand on your cheek. 

“Y/n, you’re beautiful, and that’s a fact. Please don’t ever worry ‘bout lookin’ bad for me, ok?” 

You nod and lean into her touch, a soft smile gracing your features. “I know, but... just for now, ok? I’ll get better about it, but I’m just... still new to all this,” you say softly, not meeting her eyes. 

She gives you a light kiss on the forehead and hums softly in agreement. “Okay, darlin’. I’ll go sit over by this tree, ok? I won’t look,” she promises. 

You instantly relax, releasing tension you didn’t know you were holding. “Thank you,” you whisper, and move to start hanging your clothes by the fire. You don’t have much in terms of a clothesline, so you settle for stabbing some sticks vertically into the ground and just draping your shirt and shorts off of them haphazardly. You leave your undergarments on; those are thin enough that they’ll most likely dry off while you sit by the fire. You move to the nearby rocks and brush off any dirt before sitting down, placing your elbow on your knee and your chin in your hands. The warmth from the fire is nice against your bare skin, even if you feel incredibly uncomfortable being so exposed...especially around Spinel. 

“Howzit goin’ over there, doll?” Spinel calls out from her place on the other side of the nearby tree. 

“Fine, just hoping stuff will dry quickly,” you reply. You bounce your leg up and down nervously, impatient for the garments to be wearable again. In a way, though, you’re thankful that your clothes have gotten soaked the past couple days- you haven’t had a shower in almost a week, but at least this way your clothes will smell of the ocean and fire rather than...you. 

After around half an hour of sitting, you get up to inspect the clothes, checking to see if there’s any progress made. Spinel seems to have heard you moving, because she calls out, “Are you all set over there?” 

You can barely hear her over the roar of the fire, however. “Yeah?” you shout back, trying to urge her to repeat her question. 

Unfortunately, she takes this as affirmation that you’re all done drying off, and that she can come back over. Your back is to where her spot in the tree line was, so you don’t hear or see her approach your spot crouched at the fire. 

“O-oh,” you hear her stutter out, and you stand and turn to her on instinct, face warm from the flames and your own embarrassment. 

“Spinel, I thought you were going to stay over there...” you plead, trying in vain to cover your body with your arms. 

“I’m sorry, I thought you said I could come back over,” she mutters, trying to avoid looking your direction. But you notice her catch a few glances, and you watch as her face flushes a deep magenta. 

You let out a shaky laugh, “I- I’m sorry I’m like this. I want to get better about being seen...” 

Spinel cocks an eyebrow, her gaze focused up at the overhanging trees. “If you’re comfortable now, we can try... letting me look for a moment?” she suggests, hesitation and concern in her voice. 

You take a deep breath in, and let out a resolute sigh. “Yeah. Yeah, I can do that.” 

Spinel smiles softly and turns slowly towards you, reaching out and taking your hands as she does so. 

“Wow...” she breathes out, and you blush almost immediately. Her gaze is so full of curiosity and wonder that you have to turn away. 

“I mean...I knew you were gorgeous, Y/n, but my stars.” 

She takes a tentative step forward, and places her hand on your cheek, staring into your eyes now. You meet her gaze, captivated by her pink swirling eyes, her signature markings, and her sweet smile that she now wears for you. 

Her hand moves slowly down your face, through your hair briefly, and onto your shoulder. You shudder at the close proximity, and wonder how much of your face gives away what exactly you’re feeling right now. You’re nervous and worried about what she thinks of you, but you’re also enjoying her touch immensely. 

“Just know,” Spinel says as she leans down closer to you, “that you are wonderful.” 

With that, she places her lips on your shoulder and kisses across your sternum softly. You are putty in her hands, your knees feeling almost weak. You grip her shoulder to steady yourself, and she winds her arm around to the small of your back to help. 

“You’re amazing,” you manage to breathe out, reveling in the sensations Spinel’s touch is sending through your body. She cups the back of your head with her free hand and moves her way up your neck. Her kisses aren’t hungry or demanding, you note, just... curious, and admiring. 

“H-hah...” you let out a shaky moan as she finds her way to a sensitive spot on your neck, causing you to stumble forward into her at the sudden feeling. 

“You all right there, doll?” she mutters into your ear, rubbing small comforting circles into the small of your back. 

“Y-yeah...” you let out, and all at once you find your courage to turn to her and press your mouth into hers, causing the Gem to startle slightly. But after a beat she leans into it with vigor, encircling your waist with both arms like she had before at the beach. In tandem, you reach a hand up to Spinel’s face and gently brush your thumb across her cheek, where you know her markings sit. There’s just something about these that you find oddly attractive... 

As the kiss deepens, Spinel lets out small sounds of pleasure; something you’ve never heard from her before. You smile softly and break apart slowly, your hand still on her cheek. This time it’s her turn to lean into your touch, a look of pure contentment on her face. With her eyes closed, you study her face more closely, and your heart leaps with how overjoyed you are that you get to be this close to her. 

You suddenly feel a hot prick of pain on your upper back, and you yelp, moving away from Spinel and the fire. 

“Guess the embers popped,” you say, chuckling at your own expense. Spinel had made it so easy to forget where you were, that you were basically naked standing next to open flame. 

“M-maybe the clothes are dry?” Spinel stutters out. You turn in surprise at her tone, and you can see she still appears to be slightly shell-shocked from your...exploration of each other a few moments ago. 

_ “Maybe she’s not used to all the touching...” _ you think idly as you go to inspect the drying clothes more thoroughly. _ “Hell, I don’t even think I’m used to it yet.” _

You walk around to where your clothes are still draped unceremoniously over the sticks, and inspect them once more. 

“Ah, finally!” you say with a grin, pulling your shirt on over your head. “Mmm, warm...” 

As you slip your shorts back on as well, you glance at your companion, who hasn’t moved from where you left her. 

“Hey, you all right?” you ask, echoing her earlier question. 

“Oh, yeah, just...” she trails off and you tilt your head, wondering what could be wrong. 

“Just kinda can’t believe you want me...like this,” she finishes quietly, sitting down on the rocks you had been perched on earlier. 

You follow her lead and plop down next to her, and you tentatively circle your arms around her small waist, careful to avoid her Gem. 

“We’re more similar than I thought, I guess,” you remark in a half joking tone. “But Spinel, if you’re talking about these...” 

Once again you reach a hand up to her markings, and gently guide her head so you can look into her eyes. 

“I actually really like these,” you whisper, taking her hand in your free one. “I understand why you don’t, but... they’re a sign that you went through something and came out of it on the other side.” 

Spinel nods and leans against you momentarily, before taking your hand from her cheek. 

“Thank you, Y/n,” she replies softly, her eyes gleaming. 

You smirk and move onto your knees so you’re able to reach her face, and kiss each cheek once. 

“You’re beautiful too, Spinel,” you say, staring down into her eyes and cupping the back of her head, as she had done for you moments ago. An idea suddenly forms, and your smirk grows as you lower yourself to reach her neck, peppering soft kisses on her pink skin. 

“Mmm...” Spinel hums, sounding blissed out. From your position you can see her hands, clenching and unclenching, and you love that you’re making her squirm just as she had done to you. 

You giggle mischievously and grow bold enough to straddle her, moving as quickly as you can before she can retaliate. You wrap your arms around her shoulders and bring your mouth to hers, pressing your chest against her Gem. 

Spinel’s eyes flutter shut as she sighs into your touch, her hands finding their place on your back. She shudders when you press into her Gem, the closeness almost too much for her. 

After a moment, she breaks away, face a deep magenta. You grin at her and she flushes more, earning a laugh from you. 

“You tryin’ to one-up me or somethin’?” Spinel mutters, pulling you into a hug. 

You squeeze her gently and sigh, happier than words could describe. 

“Maybe,” you say in response, pulling back to look at her face once more. “Did it work?” 

Spinel mirrors your grin and wraps you tightly in her arms, to the point where you can’t move away. 

“I’d say so,” she says in a low, dark tone. Your eyes widen as you wonder what she could be thinking, and your heart beats faster in excitement. 

But suddenly you’re unwrapped and standing, faster than you can follow what’s happening. 

“Anyway doll, you need to eat some dinner, hmm?” Spinel says innocently as she makes her way towards the food storage. You raise your eyebrows incredulously at the Gem, and huff slightly at her. 

“Really? Dinner?” you say, crossing your arms. You can’t help but smile, though- she really knows how to tease. 

“Of course, darlin’! Can’t have you starving on me,” she replies, walking back over to you and handing you a banana. You take it with a roll of your eyes, still left with an ache from the sudden absence of contact. You try not to let it show as you rush through your “dinner”, watching Spinel as she wanders aimlessly around the camp. You finish the banana and sigh, still wishing you had some variety of fruit on the island. 

A breeze rushes through the trees and you shiver, stepping closer to the fire. You look up to the night sky and smile- there are so many stars out here, and the sight just fills you with wonder every time. Most of the year you never get to see stars, since you go to school in Empire City. But you long for the summer when you can go to Beach City and walk on the beach in the starlight, unobstructed by the Earth’s artificial light. 

The moon is fully out now, and you idly wonder where the time has gone. It must be close to midnight, so you decide it’s time to start thinking about heading to bed. 

“Hey, Spinel?” you call out, and she glances up from where she was gathering kindling at the tree line. 

“I think I’m gonna go to sleep, it’s late,” you tell her as she walks over to you. 

“Oh, sure, you go sleep. I’ll keep the fire goin’ out here for ya,” she says, beginning to walk back towards the fire. 

“W-wait,” you call out hesitantly, gripping her arm. 

She turns back to you and cocks an eyebrow in confusion, and you squeeze your eyes shut as nerves flutter through you. 

“Do you, uh...can you spend the night with me? Again?” you ask softly, unable to meet Spinel’s eyes. 

Spinel takes your hand from her arm, and you glance up to see the warmest smile on her face, her eyes shining with adoration. 

“Yes,” she whispers, “I can do that.” 

You nod, face still flushed with embarrassment. Now that everything was out in the open between you two, shouldn’t you be able to ask things like this? 

_ “I wish this stuff came easier to me,” _ you think as you head into the lean-to with Spinel in tow, _ “getting kidnapped is fine but I panic with intimacy? What is _ that? _ ” _

You duck under the entrance to your shelter, and plop down unceremoniously on your makeshift bed. Spinel follows suit, both of you avoiding eye contact and sitting in silence for a moment. 

You let out a shaky sigh and wrap your arms around yourself, finally glancing towards the Gem. 

“I’m sorry, I- I don’t know why I got all nervous suddenly. It’s just... been a long time since I’ve liked anyone this much and I don’t really know how to act,” you confess. 

“Aw, Y/n...” Spinel gives you a warm smile and scoots closer to you, placing a hand on your back. “I’ve _ never _done this before. I was infatuated with Pink Diamond, but I was made for her. With you it’s so new and... an’ scary sometimes,” she says quietly, trailing off. 

Your head snaps up, your eyebrows furrowed. “Oh god, did I move too fast? Did I do something wrong?” you ask worriedly, thoughts rushing through your head. You never want her to feel scared around you; you’d do anything to avoid that happening. 

“No, no!” she rushes to reply, eyes going wide. “Stars, no. I just meant... I’m still learning, you know? I think we both are,” she chuckles, earning a smile from you. “But... we can learn together, right?” 

You nod and lean against her, placing your head on her shoulder. “Yeah, of course. We’ll teach each other,” you say quietly, snuggling into Spinel. She plants a soft kiss on the top of your head and hugs your body to her, squeezing gently. 

With a soft sigh, she asks, “Are you ready to sleep now, doll? How would ya like to do this?” 

Your face heats and you pull back, looking up at her. “Well, uh... can I lay on your shoulder while we lie down?” you ask shyly. 

Spinel nods, and pulls you to her, laying down with you as you asked. “Like this?” 

“Mmm,” you hum in affirmation, burrowing into the crook of her neck and breathing her in. Your heart thuds loudly as the Gem wraps her arms around you, once again pulling you closer. 

“Good night, Y/n,” she whispers, and you drift off with your heart feeling more full than it’s ever been. 

** _x * x * x * x * x _ **

You’re pretty sure you’re dreaming. Your mind is all hazy, you can barely see, and there’s a light touch roaming up and down your arms, sometimes moving down your legs. You can’t move much but you don’t mind; it’s warm and comfortable in this dream and you feel safe, and at home. But as the fog in your mind clears, you realize you’re very much awake, and as Spinel moves and shifts around you, you realize it’s her who’s lightly ghosting her hands on your arm. 

As you had the first night you spent together, you stay still and pretend to still be asleep, letting her do what she will. Her touch is tentative but curious, and every time your breathing changes or you shift slightly, she freezes, scared to wake you. 

Keeping up the façade of sleep, you sigh heavily and snuggle in closer to her neck, making a happy sleepy sound as you do so. 

“O-oh, Y/n...” she breathes out, moving her free hand back around your waist and squeezing you closer to her, making a small noise of contentment. 

Fighting back a smile, you press your mouth to the side of Spinel’s neck, and encircle your free arm around her shoulders. 

“Y/n... oh gosh, did I wake you up?” she says, interrupting your kiss. 

“Mm, no,” you reply in a low, sleepy voice, “I just woke up...” 

You pull back to look at Spinel, and smile at the sight you see. Her hair is slightly messy from having been lying down with you for however many hours, and her eyes are heavy and lidded gazing at you, her face slightly flushed. 

“You all right?” you ask, propping yourself up on one elbow. 

“Heh, ‘course I am, doll. Y’just... stars, I just love bein’ here with ya,” she says, her accent growing heavy. 

You shoot her a small smile and reach to squeeze her hand. “Me too,” you reply quietly, “It’s... really comforting, being able to wake up with you like this. Even if it is the middle of the night.” 

You look in her eyes before continuing, “And, uh, feeling your touch as I woke up wasn’t terrible, either...” 

Spinel smirks, “Oh? You were awake then, huh? Sneaky girl...” 

She shifts to position herself over you, and you look up to meet her eyes, your face flushing with heat. 

“S-Spinel, what are you...” 

“Shh, Y/n... lemme show you how much I appreciate you, now that you’re awake,” she says in a dulcet tone, making your stomach flutter in anticipation. Her hand finds its way to your shoulder, and she lowers herself to kiss your lips, letting out a hum of pleasure as you meet her in the middle. 

She moves forward onto you, forcing you to lean back on the ground and letting her take the lead. You love that she’s grown confident enough to act this way around you, and maybe you even enjoy letting her push you around a bit... 

You reach up to wrap your arms around her neck, and she growls lowly and pushes against you even more. Your kisses grow hungrier, wanting to make her feel as good as she’s making you feel, but she reaches up to take one of your arms away from her neck and pins your hand to the floor. She breaks the kiss and gives you a look, her eyes narrowed and wild, a telling smirk on her face. 

“Now now, doll, be patient, hmm?” she whispers, and you feel arousal pooling in your core at her words. 

“I’ve neva done anythin’ with someone before,” she confesses, trailing an idle finger down your face and jawline, never breaking eye contact, “but I know next to nothin’ about humans bodies... let me explore yours,” she finishes, her hand moving lower and lower down your body as she gazes down at you. 

“If you’re okay with it, of course,” she adds, her eyes softening briefly. You swallow, your throat suddenly dry, and nod in affirmation. 

“I may be nervous, but I’m excited, too,” you tell the Gem, hoping she can read the emotions on your face. 

Spinel’s grin widens at that, her eyes growing wild and curious once more. 

“Let’s see if we can get rid of some of those nerves, hmm?” she says quietly, leaning down to kiss your cheek. You smile warmly up at her, grateful for her constant reassurance. You try to remember that she’s here with you because she cares about you, not judging you, and that her gaze isn’t something to be feared. 

“Lean back again, okay darlin’?” she instructs, and you happily do so, staring up at her in anticipation. 

“I just love how you look under me,” she murmurs, stroking your face gently. Your cheeks heat up under her touch, and you have to look away, an embarrassed smile finding its way to your face. 

Spinel takes that as her cue to start kissing your neck and sternum once more, and your hands fly to her back before you can stop them, gripping onto her to steady your shaking arms. Every kiss sends twinges through your body, and you let out an involuntary moan. 

Spinel pulls back and raises an eyebrow, a proud smile on her face. “You like that, huh?” she purrs, “What else do ya like, love? Humans are just so...interestin’...but I don’t know what makes you feel good, so you have to tell me, yeah?” 

She pulls back once more to gauge your reactions, and is met with your blissed-out expression, already on a high from all the contact. 

“Well... you're doing excellently already,” you point out, earning a pleased look from the Gem. “B-but...” 

You take her hand gently, and move her tentatively to your breast, placing her palm on the side over you shirt and bra. 

“I-it feels nice for us when someone touches here, below the clothes. Kind of like how you were touching my arm earlier I guess,” you explain to a wide-eyed Spinel, who has begun to flush a deep magenta, “And, uh.... here as well...” 

You part your legs slightly and guide her hand to your shorts, hand trembling. 

“But I’m... I would love to just keep doing what we were doing, for now,” you whisper, feeling incredibly shy. “I don’t know if I’m comfortable with all that yet...” 

Spinel’s eyes soften, and she moves her hand away from your legs and laces her fingers with yours. 

“Hey, I didn’t... I wasn’t expectin’ anything, Y/n. I just wanted to make you feel good, but there’s no pressure, okay? I know enough to guess that stuff like this is really intimate and special for some people, yeah?” 

You nod and sit up, and Spinel cups the back of your head gently, gazing into your eyes. 

“Thanks, Spins. I’m sorry I’m such a mess,” you reply with a half-hearted chuckle, “I’m just a very nervous person when it comes to this, I guess... but it doesn’t mean I like you any less.” 

“Aw, I know, doll. Sorry for pushin’ myself on ya. Guess six thousand years without any contact’ll do that to a Gem,” she jokes with a sad smile. 

“You didn’t push, I promise. I was really enjoying myself...” you say, trailing off in thought. Your eyes travel down to her large heart-shaped gem, and suddenly you find yourself curious... 

“Speaking of... I’d like to know what makes you feel good, too,” you continue in a lower tone, meeting the Gem’s eyes once more. 

“More specifically, what happens if I touch here...?” 

You ghost your fingers over Spinel’s gem, and watch as her eyes flutter closed momentarily. 

“Y/n, I, uh... it’s a very sensitive part of me,” she explains in a shaky voice, “since it basically _ is _me...” 

You graze your thumb over the facets, watching her expression shift as she hums in pleasure. You inch closer to her from your sitting position, moving so you’re sitting cross-legged between her legs, facing her head on. 

“Ah... stars,” she breathes out as you continue exploring her gem, your heart leaping every time her face scrunches up in bliss. 

“Y’know, I genuinely had no idea your gems could make you feel like this,” you say softly. “Guess this is why I don’t see the Crystal Gems touching them unless they’re poofed...” 

“Mmm... I suppose it’s contextual,” Spinel says, opening her eyes to explain, “Gems aren’t exactly... built for this, but since our entire being generates from here, I guess it was inevitable that we would be most sensitive here in moments of heightened emotion.” 

“Heh, you sounded a bit like Peridot just then,” you tease, although secretly you’re impressed that she is so knowledgeable about certain aspects of Gem life. You idly wonder how quickly she would have been able to learn things, had she not been regulated to essentially be a jester... 

“Heh, at least I’m t-taller than Peridot,” Spinel jokes back, stuttering as you continue your exploration. 

You raise an eyebrow at her comment and smirk. _ “Oh, I’m so telling Peridot about that whenever we get back to Beach City,” _you think, biting back a giggle. 

Suddenly, an idea forms. “Hey... can I try something? Do you trust me?” you ask gently, momentarily stopping your touches. 

“S-sure, doll, I trust ya,” Spinel replies, trying to avoid looking too eager. 

You shoot her an innocent smile and lean down, entwining your hands with hers before planting a soft kiss in the middle of her gem. 

“H-hah, oh my stars,” she moans out. You sit back up and squeeze her hands, trying to gauge her reaction. 

“What did that feel like?” you murmur, genuinely curious. 

“It... it just feels so nice,” Spinel breathes, “It’s hard to explain, to a human at least, but um... feels kind of like a hug, and kind of like pinpricks going everywhere.” 

“Hmm...” 

You smirk as you bend back down, this time peppering slow, deliberate kisses all over her gem. Her hands find their way to your hair, bunching fistfuls as she groans and squirms. After a few moments of this, you sit up once more, gazing at your companion in adoration. Her face is completely flushed, eyes unfocused, staring at nothing. You place one hand on the back of her head and another on her back to steady her, and she goes limp in your arms, her forehead landing on your shoulder. 

“Ohmygoodness,” she manages to get out, her voice more breathy than you’ve ever heard it. 

“You okay there, Spins?” you ask, slightly concerned that you may have given her too much to handle. 

“Y-yeah, I just... wow, that was...” she trails off, unable to finish her sentence. 

“Y’know... I think we may have just discovered the Gem orgasm,” you say light-heartedly, stroking the back of Spinel’s hair and rubbing circles into her back. 

“What’s an ‘orgasm’?” 

You snort and try to hold back laughter, realizing that of course that word would be entirely foreign to her. 

“Hmm, well... I think it might be similar to how you were just feeling,” you explain, “In humans, it’s when the pleasure gets to be so intense and it kind of just...explodes all at once.” 

You hope that’s an apt enough explanation for now, without going into terms and details that she might not understand. 

“Huh... yeah, that might’ve just happened,” she says with a chuckle. Spinel snakes her arms around your waist, still leaning into your shoulder, and gives you that gentle squeeze that you’re becoming all too familiar with. 

“I’m so glad I could make you feel good,” you whisper, kissing the back of her head. You sit like that with her for a few minutes, idly tracing patterns on her back and holding her head to you. Your eyebrows shoot up when, after a while, her head starts growing heavier, her grip around your middle going loose. 

“Spins, are you falling asleep?” you whisper. 

“W-what?” She lifts her head slowly from your shoulder, her face inches away from yours. Her eyes are half-lidded, and she looks almost in a daze. 

“Aw, hon, you look exhausted,” you say with a quiet laugh. “I guess that took a lot out of you...” 

She sits up fully and rubs at her eyes, blinking a few times. “Sorry doll, I guess so... Heh, I’ve never been tired before,” she says with a smile, and stretches her arms out to you. “You wanna lay down again?” 

You nod in response, humming happily as the Gem takes you back into her arms and you move into the position you’d started in, your head on her shoulder, arm draped across her torso. She moves both hands to your shoulders and hums happily as you snuggle into her neck once more. 

“Good night, Spinel,” you mumble. “I hope you get some rest, too...” 

“Good night, Y/n,” she replies with a whisper, and you both drift off in each other's embrace. 

** _X * x * x * x * x _ **

Unfortunately, the next time you wake isn’t nearly as pleasant. 

You awaken with a shiver, feeling cold and very damp. Your eyes fly open as you realize what must be happening. 

“Oh, no!” you whine, sitting up in the lean-to. Rain is pouring through the roof, if it can even be called a roof anymore. Almost half the sticks have been blown off the structure, leaving you bared to the open sky. 

Spinel sits up beside you, also awakening to the downpour. 

“Y/n, we have to get you out of the rain,” she calls over the roar of the heavy drops. 

“But the camp-” 

“C’mon doll, we can rebuild and find more food later, we just have to get you somewhere dry first!” 

You scrunch your face in defiance, but finally sigh and relent. Spinel stands and pulls you to your feet, an arm around your shoulder as if she could protect you from the rain. 

“Do you think there’s a cave somewhere on the island?” you call as you head away from your camp into the forest. 

“Don’t know, but we’ll check,” Spinel reassures you, “and if we have to, we’ll just find a nice tree to sit under, all right?” 

You nod and let the Gem lead you around the island, both keeping your eyes out for a cave or other shelter to wait out the storm in. Spinel shoots you worried looks every now and then, like she’s checking to make sure you’re not dying. You want to roll your eyes at her over-protectiveness, but you can’t help feeling flattered that she cares enough to check in on you. 

The longer you rush around the island, the more you start to shiver and shake with the cold. The rain shows no signs of stopping, and even you’re beginning to worry about what this might do to you in the long run. 

The island turns out to be bigger than you and Spinel remembered. It feels like you searched up and down the place, but you’re almost positive you went in circles for a while there. The speed and denseness of the rain makes it hard to see very far in front of you, and there aren’t many landmarks you can remember where you’ve been with- it's mostly just trees and beach. 

After a couple hours of searching, Spinel stops you under a tree and rolls her eyes at the sky. “Y/n, there’s no cave here. We need to get you dry and warm, or you’ll get sick, right?” 

She looks to you for confirmation while rubbing her hands up and down your arms to create some friction. You nod in affirmation and sigh. 

“Yeah, all right... it’s gonna be hard to get warm out in the open, though, “you tell her. 

Her face betrays how worried she is, but her voice tries to stay strong. “I know, love. I’ll do my best,” she says. 

Spinel moves you to a nearby cluster of trees, and immediately wraps you up in her embrace almost completely. You both sit gently on the soaked ground, and you try to condense your body in her arms, hoping to keep what little warmth you generate. 

“It’ll be okay, doll,” Spinel murmurs next to you, “The rain’ll stop soon and I’ll build ya another fire real quick, yeah?” 

You nod in between shivers, giving her what you hope to be a reassuring smile. 

“Don’t worry about me, ok? I’ll be all right...” 

You sit in silence for some time, the steady sound of rain and the feeling of being wrapped in your Gem’s arms making you feel quite drowsy. You doze in and out for a while, waking every time shivers wrack your body. 

At some point, Spinel nudges you awake, having unwrapped one arm from you. 

“Doll, the rain has slowed some. I had an idea- I'll run around the island some more and look for better shelter, I can move faster on my own. You wait here and I’ll be back in fifteen or twenty minutes no matter what, okay? If I don’t find anythin’ I’ll come straight back and keep ya warm some more.” 

“That sounds good, Spins... just hurry, okay?” 

Spinel nods once and springs up, rushing off into the tree line. 

_ “She was right- she is faster on her own,” _ you think as you watch her sprint away. The minutes pass, and you lose track of how long she’s been gone. This day has been passing in a rainy haze, and with you feeling as poorly as you are, time has felt strange as it often does when you’re becoming sick. 

_ “Oh no,” _ you think as you realize, _ “I’m getting sick, aren’t I... this is bad.” _

You try not to fret too much as you wait for Spinel to return, rationalizing that it might just be the cold rain that’s making you feel this way, and that you’ll feel better once you’re somewhere warm again. 

“Y/n!” 

You hear Spinel before you see her, as she rushes up from behind the tree you’re leaning on. 

“I found a cave, kind of! It’s more of a giant overhanging rock, but it’s dry and I can build you a fire there, okay?” 

You grin at her and move to stand, and she races to support you, placing one hand in yours and another on your back. 

“Thank you, Spinel,” you say softly, genuine gratitude plain in your voice. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know I’m great,” she jokes with a grin, beginning to lead you towards her newfound shelter, “but let’s save the thanks for after you’re dry, hmm?” 

With that she shows you to the overhang, towards the top of the island. No wonder you hadn’t seen this, your camp was to the southwest and if you had been going in circles all morning, you definitely hadn’t gotten up to the north part of the forest. 

Eventually you reach the temporary shelter, and you plop back down on the ground, hugging yourself to try to keep warm again. The rain had slowed but hadn’t stopped, and the wind chill more than made up for the lighter downpour- you were freezing. 

“You stay right there toots, okay? I’ll build ya a fire,” Spinel says, worry plain in her voice as she rushes to pick up any dry sticks she can find. 

You watch her with a small smile, grateful to have her companionship and help. 

_ “It’s silly... she’s the reason I’m stuck here in the first place, but... I guess everything turned out okay. I’m almost glad she brought me here,” _ you think idly as Spinel works. 

The exhaustion from shivering for hours catches up to you, and you lean your head against the rock wall, telling yourself you’ll just close your eyes for a moment... 

You wake to the soft pitter-patter of slow rain, and the crackling heat of a fire nearby. Finally, you feel warm again. You smile as you realize Spinel has moved you from the wall and rested your head gently in her lap, far enough away from the fire to avoid rogue embers, but close enough that you can still feel it’s warmth. 

In fact, you’re almost too warm. You scrunch your forehead in confusion and sit up, your head spinning slightly. 

“O-oh, Y/n! Hey there,” Spinel greets you. She reaches out and places a hand on your shoulder, “How are ya feeling?” 

“Fine, I think? I’m just really warm,” you say, glancing back towards the fire. “How long have I been asleep?” 

“An hour or two, maybe? It’s midday, I think,” Spinel replies, glancing out towards the forest. “Rain hasn’t stopped completely, so it’s hard to tell.” 

“Guess we’re stuck here a while,” you say, following her gaze to the rainy island. “Ugh, it really is hot though...” 

You move to stand, and your vision blurs, head spinning. You sway on your feet a moment and reach out a hand, trying to regain your balance. Spinel springs up to steady you, and you can see the concern plain on her face. 

“Aw, I’m okay, Spins, just a head rush from standing up too quickly,” you reassure her. 

But as you move to step away from the fire and Spinel relinquishes your arm, your knees buckle and you collapse, hitting the floor with a dull thud. 

_ “Y/n!!” _


	8. Burning Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New tags/warnings added for this chapter, please make sure to check before reading!

To say that Spinel was panicking would be an understatement. Her world seemed to move in slow motion as she watches you crumple to the floor. She barely reacts in time, catching you just before your head hits the ground.

_ “Y/n!”  _ She cries out, hoping you’ll wake after a moment, and everything will be fine again. But you don’t appear to hear her, and her heart sinks. She cradles your form for a moment, too scared to move you. She has no idea what could be wrong; you had never prepared her for anything like this. She supports your head gently in her lap like before, her hands shaking with fear.

“Please... please be okay,” she whispers, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. She has no way of knowing  what’s wrong with you. She feels... lost without you here to explain what’s going on. She barely knows anything about humans, what is she supposed to do?

She glances down at  you and wipes away a few sweat drops that have pooled on your forehead. Looking at the sweet face Spinel has come to know over the past few weeks calms her slightly, and she takes a steadying breath. No time to panic now. Spinel caresses your cheek tenderly, smiling down at you, and you shift slightly under her touch.

“Oh! Y/n?” the Gem asks hopefully, sitting up in anticipation.

But... no. You’re still out, and Spinel deflates, disappointment plain on her face. She sighs loudly, and glances around. Suddenly, she makes a connection.

“Aw gee, I should get you away from the fire if you’re too hot, right?” Spinel mumbles, remembering that you’d mentioned it was warm right before you had fainted.  Plus with all the sweat coming off of you... being near the fire couldn’t be good.

_ “Wish her body would just make up its’ mind... too hot, too cold, geez,” _ Spinel thinks as she gently moves you away from the fire, closer to the wall you had been leaning against earlier. She’s not annoyed at you, but her worry takes the form of anger sometimes...

She keeps your head in her lap, not wanting to leave you on the floor.  As the Gem sits with you, her mind wanders, fretting over every little possibility. What if you never wake up? She’d have to bring you back to Beach City and face the others. What if you wake up but blame her for whatever happened? Then she would truly be alone...

Spinel’s hand snaps to yours, gripping you like you’re her lifeline. She doesn’t have to breathe, but she does anyway, especially in these sorts of situations- the repetitive motion grounds her, helps her calm her thoughts. And lately you’ve been nearby as well, ready to offer a gentle touch or kind words...

Spinel’s gem swells with appreciation and fondness for you, and she squeezes your hand a bit too hard. You shift and moan in pain, still not waking. 

“Shit. Sorry, doll,” Spinel whispers, releasing your hand. She knows she needs to be strong for you now. You’re always there for her, and she needs to be able to do the same for you when the situation calls for it. As a Gem, she may be stronger physically, and have more abilities than you, but... in her eyes, you are the strongest person she’s ever met, emotionally. Even counting when you were uncomfortable with some things earlier... it takes strength to be able to admit that, to say it out loud. She can only try to learn from you and grow.

The day passes by slowly, Spinel just leaning against the rock wall with you, waiting for you to awake. The rain finally lets up some time around sunset, thank the stars. Odd as it may sound, Spinel  actually misses your little camp that you two had made. If you had been okay, the two of you could have gone back to rebuild it in the evening light, making playful banter all the while, stealing a kiss or two. But you weren’t okay. 

Spinel had been trying to check in with you every hour or so, looking for any changes in your skin or otherwise. You’d hit your knees  pretty hard when you had fallen- she hadn’t gotten to you in time to stop that, only barely reaching you before your head had hit the floor too.  So she’s been watching those carefully, hoping she knew enough about your anatomy to be able to tell if anything was wrong there. So  far they had turned a bit of an odd shade of blue, but other than that the Gem had no idea.

Your skin was clammy to the touch, and Spinel would have thought you were cold if she couldn’t see the sweat coming off you. Occasionally, you would shiver or groan in pain, and Spinel’s gem would seize up with worry. 

_ “If she’s not awake by the morning... I have to take her back,”  _ Spinel thinks sadly. Her hands shake involuntarily with fear at the thought of bringing you back to Steven and the others in this condition, but... she was at a total loss here. All that matters to her is making sure you’re okay.

A breeze rushes through the overhang that you’ve bunkered under, and Spinel recognizes the chill of night. She scowls at the sky, annoyed at the sudden change of temperature. She knows she’ll have to move you back over by the fire soon, and just hopes that it won’t have any negative effects on your condition...

As slowly as possible, the Gem stands with you cradled in her arms, looped around your shoulders and ankles once just to make sure she has a steady hold on you. She walks back towards the fire and tentatively sits down, making sure to hold your head still. She doesn’t know exactly what can and can’t hurt you, so she wants to be extra cautious. 

After a few moments of sitting in silence, Spinel begins fidgeting- sitting in the same position all day has made her antsy. She wishes she could go for a walk, or go rebuild the lean-to, something productive, but she doesn’t want you to wake up alone.  So she settles for shifting positions, pulling your head to her shoulder, the position you seem to love so much. Spinel smiles as you sigh when she moves you, the most relaxed noise she’s heard you make all day. She hopes she can hear you make that sound again when you’re awake...

** _x * x * x * x * x _ **

You wake with a start, your body jolting you out of some nightmare that you’ve already forgotten. You feel awful, your body shaking like it’s cold, but feeling extremely warm. You swallow and realize your throat is extremely dry and scratchy- not good.

After taking stock of all of this, you  come to the conclusion that you’re definitely sick.

_ “Perfect. Getting sick on a deserted island, what a plan,” _ you think with a roll of your eyes. Everything had been going so well... why did the rain have to come and ruin it? You start to sit up to try to go find water, when you realize you can’t move very far.

Spinel has apparently fallen  asleep, and wrapped you up in  her arms unconsciously. You smile and glance up at the sleeping Gem’s face. You don’t get to admire her often enough like this, she’s almost always looking at you. But seeing her resting... thousands of years of worry and pain melt off her face, and she’s left with the sweet Spinel you’ve come to know. You wish you could reach her to kiss her cheek, but she’s got you  pretty trapped . It’s endearing to know how much she cares about you, really. Even if it is a little suffocating at times- literally.

You figure you’ll let her rest, and by the looks of it you should try to rest more as well. The overhanging rock you’ve been sitting under blocks out most of the sky, but from your position you can just see over to the trees. It’s  definitely nighttime , and the rain has finally stopped... were you out for an entire day? What time was it when you had fainted?

A wave of dizziness passes through you, and you rest your head back on Spinel’s shoulder, earning a slight squeeze from the Gem. These questions can wait until morning, when you’re hopefully feeling better...

You lay there for a while, trying to let sleep find its’ way to you again. But you’re just not tired anymore. You let out a sigh of annoyance, but with that sigh comes a cough that wracks your entire body, forcing you to sit up and wrench yourself free from Spinel’s grasp. 

“Huh? What?” Spinel sits up with you, startled awake and still slightly out of it. 

“Y/n!  Oh my stars, you’re awake! Are... are you okay? That didn’t sound good...”

The pink Gem leans in towards you as you try to catch your breath from all the coughing. 

“I- I’m fine,” you say in a raspy voice. God, it even hurts to talk. You’re much  more sick than you had initially thought...

“Really? You don’t... sound like you,” Spinel points out, a brow raising in question.

“Being out in the rain for so long made me sick, probably,” you explain, trying not to overuse your voice. “ Basically my body has a virus that it’s fighting off, and the side effects of that are... this. Dizziness, sore throat, fever...”

You trail off as you realize Spinel looks confused, and more than a little worried.

“I’ll be fine, hon,” you tell her, taking her hand in your own, “I’m just  gonna be a little out of sorts for a while. You might...  have to do more things for me than normal. Is that okay?”

Her face softens and she looks into your eyes with sincerity. “ Of course it’s okay, doll. Gosh, I was just so worried that you’d... never wake up...”

She trails off, and you notice tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes.

“Aw, hey, hey, nothing to worry about, ok? I’ll admit I’ve never fainted like that before, but I’ve been sick dozens of times. It’s not fun but it’s part of being human. I’m sorry I worried you, Spinel...”

She nods and gives you a small smile, and wipes at her eyes. “It’s all right, peach. It’s not your fault or  anythin ’, I’m just a big  ol ’ wimp, heh.”

“Yeah, but you’re my wimp,” you say with a grin, pulling her into a hug. She melts into your touch, resting her chin on your shoulder, and you mirror her. There’s something about her embrace that’s so warm and welcoming, and you know you’ll never get tired of this- of her. You hum contentedly, squeezing Spinel closer to you, and she follows suit in a way that you’ll never be able to copy. She wraps around you a few times and leans her head back, looking very pleased with herself.

“Now  ya can’t leave,” she teases.

“Yeah? And where would I go, exactly?” you reply, making sure your tone was  light so the Gem knows you’re just playing along. Wouldn’t want a repeat of what happened that first day on the island.

“Plenty of island for you to scamper off to, y’know...”

“Let me rephrase that. Where would I  _ want  _ to go without you?”

At that, Spinel’s brows furrow together, and she slowly releases her hold on you.

“Y-you mean that?”

“Of course, hon. You never have to question if I mean what I’m saying, okay? When it comes to you, I promise I’ll always be honest.”

Spinel nods once and shoots you a small smile.

“You’re just... great, you know that?”

“Heh, yeah, I know. You’re not too bad yourself, ‘doll’,” you reply, trying out her nickname for you.

She snorts, and you roll your eyes at her apparent dislike of the  name , but grin  back at her .

“Yeah, yeah. I heard it. I’ll leave that nickname to you.”

You sigh and place a ha n d to your forehead as another round of dizziness passes. You hate being this type of sick- you could deal with nausea, or being stuffy, but this kind of wooziness ma kes you feel like you were experiencing everything slightly to the left. Like your body wasn’t where your brain was, or something.

“Hey, you all right?” Spinel asks, concern creeping back into her voice.

“Y-yeah, just feel weird again,” you reply, shutting your eyes as the feeling passes. 

“ D’ya need to sleep more? You’re always welcome to lay on me,” Spinel offers, extending a hand to you.

“I don’t know... I woke up a little earlier than you did, before all the coughing happened. I tried to go back to sleep but I think I slept enough today. I’m not tired anymore, just... dizzy,” you explain to the Gem.

“Hmm... well, maybe you should still lie down, but we could just... talk?” she suggests, offering you a shy smile.

You return it and say, “Yeah, I’d like that. Lying down is probably the best option anyway.” 

Spinel pulls you to her gently, and you lean back on her shoulder, positioning yourself so you’re looking up at the overhanging rock above you. From here you can just see past it to the stars in the sky, and something about the view makes you happy...

Suddenly a thought strikes you as you gaze at the stars. “Hey, can you see  Homeworld from here? Is that even possible?” 

You look over to Spinel as she stares quizzically up at the night sky. 

“Hmm... honestly, I got no idea,” she says with a chuckle, “Might be better off asking Peridot 'bout that, when we get back...”

She trails  off, and shifts so she can look at you for a moment. “Hey,  speakin ’ of home... I’d love to know more about your life, Y/n. I feel like with all the time we’ve been here, and with all the stuff  goin ’ on between us... I don’t know you as well as I should.”

Your heart flutters at her words, and how genuinely interested she sounds in learning more about you. If you were honest, you had begun to wonder if she was only interested in the more physical aspect of whatever this was, but... this  assuages your worry slightly. 

“Hmm... well, I can’t remember if I’ve told you about college and all that?” Spinel shakes her head no, so you continue, “Well most of the year, like when it’s not summer, I actually don’t live in Beach City. I live in Empire City and go to school. I love the city most of the time, but being able to come to Beach City over the summer and see my Gem friends, and Steven... it’s so special.”

As you talk about your relationship with the Gems and Steven, Spinel watches you intently, her eyes never leaving you. You’re leaning on her shoulder and talking up at the sky, but Spinel only has eyes for you. 

“I keep in contact with them most of the year, or I try to at least. Pearl has finally figured out how to use a cell phone within the past few years, which is nice. Amethyst is just great, she always sends me dumb memes or funny videos, but she can talk about the serious stuff too. And Garnet doesn’t talk to me on the phone often, but... she sometimes looks for me in her future vision, I think, and calls if I’m having a rough time. Which, uh, is more often than I’d like to admit,” you say with a chuckle at your own expense.

“Gee... they sound like great Gems,” Spinel mumbles, turning her gaze back to the sky.

“Do you...  d’ya think they’ll like me one day?” she asks softly.

It’s your turn to look up at her, shifting around and leaning on your elbow for support. “Spins, they’ll love you. I know it! You’ll fit right  in, I promise. It may take some  time but I’ll be there with you. Steven is forgiving to a fault, so between him and I we’ll help the Gems see that you’re good.”

You  lean forward and plant a soft kiss on Spinel’s cheek, causing her to flush a magenta hue. 

“You always know just what to say, Y/n. Thank you, doll,” she says, draping her arms around your shoulders as you lie back down. 

“It’s a gift,” you reply, smiling to yourself as she hugs you close. 

“What about you, Spinel? I  wanna know about you too,” you tell the Gem.

She chuckles darkly. “What’s there to say? My life has been... uneventful.”

Your hands find their way to hers and you rub a thumb across the top of her hand gently. “But you had a life with Pink before, right? And you have a life now...”

Spinel takes a shaky breath and squeezes you slightly. “Yeah, you’re right. I was made for Pink Diamond, as you know... and I was completely devoted to her, in part because I had to be, but mostly because I truly thought of her as my best friend. I thought she felt the same; I was so naïve back then. There were so many signs that she thought of me as nothing more than a plaything, a throw away toy...”

Her grip tightens more, and you can feel her hands shaking as she fights back the anger and tears. You try to ground her with your touch, moving your hand up and down one of her arms. 

Her shaking subsides and she continues, accent slipping in, “I  neva really... got to go to  Homeworld with her. Not more than a couple times at least. I realize now that she couldn’t be silly with me all the time, that she was a Diamond, that she wanted to impress Blue and Yellow so she could get her own colony eventually, but... it still hurt, that she’d ignore me when she brought me back to Homeworld. And then eventually she just started leaving me in the Garden, not for long amounts of time, but...”

She shrugs as well as she can while lying on the ground. “Guess I should have seen it  comin ’,  ya know?”

“Spinel...”

You move quickly, and turn into the Gem’s embrace, nestling your head in the crook of her neck and squeezing her thin frame. 

“I’m so proud of you for getting through all this, alone for so long... but you’re not alone now, yeah? I’m here with you. And when we get back home, whenever that is, you’ll have others with you too.”

She pulls back and you look up into her eyes, which are shining with adoration.  She doesn’t need to say anything- you know what she’s thinking.

Planting another light kiss to her tear stains, you smile and continue, “And by the way, anything you might like to do when we get back to Beach City? Anything about the Earth you’re curious of?”

Spinel continues to gaze into your eyes as she says, “I’d like to make things right with the others...”

“That’s a great goal, hon. And I promise I’ll be there to help every step of the way. But even if I wasn’t, I know you can do this.”

You squeeze her hand once and she closes her eyes, smiling at your touch.

“Okay now Miss Dramatic, what  _ else  _ would you like to do on Earth?” you tease, poking her shoulder lightly.

“Pff, wow, pushy much?” Spinel snorts. “Let’s see... I’d uh,  kinda love to explore the town? Maybe you can show me your favorite spots? Oh!” Her eyes light up as an idea forms, “There was this place I saw near the beach, it had a sign called Funland?”

You nod enthusiastically, “Oh man, you’ll love that place! It’s called an amusement park, it’s... well, you’ll just have to see, I don’t want to spoil the experience. It’ll be-”

A sudden cough interrupts your sentence, wracking your body. You sit up to try to get air flowing again, and Spinel sits up with you, patting your back gently.

“That, uh... sounds worse than before, doll,” Spinel whispers, and you nod in agreement. You forgot about it with all the talking, but your throat has been incredibly dry; you really need some water soon.

“Can you... get me some water?” you manage to croak out, looking to the Gem with pleading eyes. Spinel is on her feet in an instant, and she simply nods before racing off into the trees. You slump back onto the ground, suddenly exhausted. Once  again your body can’t decide if it wants to be hot or cold, and you begin breaking out in a sweat while simultaneously shivering. You roll your eyes at the world, and press a hand to your forehead, trying to get rid of the onslaught of sick feelings that are rolling over you.

A few minutes later Spinel returns with a large palm leaf containing some water. It’s not much, but it’ll do for now, you decide. Until morning, at least.

You reach out to her wordlessly, and grab the leaf greedily, gulping down its’ contents.

“Ahh...” you sigh once you’ve drank it all. Spinel reassumes her place next to you, and you lean into her embrace, eyelids feeling heavier by the second.

“Doll, you  gotta rest now,” she mumbles into your ear, resting her head on your shoulder from behind. “Seems like this whole ‘sick’ thing takes a lot  outta you...”

You nod, too tired to argue, and lean into her further, letting her support you. 

“I just hope I’ll be better by the morning,” you muse, your words slightly slurred with exhaustion.

“Me too... but hush now, okay? Just sleep,” Spinel replies, gently leaning back with you. You fall asleep before she even hits the ground.

**_x * x * x * x * x_ **

When you wake in the morning, you can immediately tell that you’re worse. The fever has  intensified and you feel incredibly clammy... and nauseous. You sit up slowly, carefully removing Spinel’s arms from around your shoulders- she must have dozed off at some point as well. You do your best to ignore your churning stomach, but it gets to be too much. 

You stand quickly and rush off to just outside the overhand, not wanting Spinel to see your human messiness. You only throw up a little, but it’s enough to make you feel awful and disgusting.

“Y/n? You all right?” Spinel calls as you stumble back to her. 

“Not... not really,” you admit, clutching your stomach as you slide down against the wall. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to see that...” 

Spinel furrows her brows. “You know I don’t care, doll... I just want  ya to get better.” She takes a deep breath before continuing, “Which is why I need to bring you back today.”

You inhale sharply, not expecting her response at all. “What? No, I’ll be okay, really,” you plead.

Truthfully, you didn’t want to leave yet, even if you were feeling like shit. You loved being here in your own little world with Spinel, yes, but there was some nagging doubt at the back of your mind that when you got back to Beach City and faced the others... they would judge you immensely for developing feelings for your captor. Of course, those feelings had been budding from before she took you, but still...

You blanche at the thought of Steven, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl turning you away, wanting nothing to do with you after befriending the Gem who had caused them so much trouble. Your stomach flutters again, but not with nausea this time. Just thinking about Pearl being distant from you for being with Spinel hurts more than any sickness.

“ Whaddya mean? You’re  _ not  _ okay, Y/n,” Spinel says a little too forcefully. “You slept all day, you can barely talk, and now this? You need help that I can’t give you.”

You shake your head vigorously. “Spinel, I just... I can’t. Besides, the journey back might mess me up even more,” you reason, grasping at straws.

Spinel rolls her eyes and stands, crossing her arms and looking down at you. “You’re just  gonna get worse if we stay here!  Ya need... medicine or somethin’, and somewhere to rest that isn’t outside in the cold. And real food and water!” 

“Spinel,  _ no.  _ Okay? I’m not going back yet. I just need more rest and more  water, I’ve been sick before. It will go away in a few days. Just... wait it out with me?”

“ _ Really?  _ You’re asking me to  _ wait  _ with you? Wow, gee, where have I heard that before?” Her voice grows deeper and more intense as she grows angrier, pacing around in front of you. 

“That’s not what I-”

“Whatever. I’m just  tryin ’ to look after you but clearly you don’t want my help. Wait it out yourself.”

She  storms off into the forest, not glancing back. You scrunch your face up at her retreating form, and bury your head in your hands when you know she’s gone.

You thought she would be okay staying here with you- wasn't she nervous to go back just a few days ago? She had offered to deliver you back home but said she would come back here... that’s when you told her you’d stay with her, and all the feelings came rushing out. Wasn’t she supposed to want to stay with you?

A tear runs down your cheek as you lift your head. You realize you can’t do much without Spinel, and you could really use some water again, if not more food...when was the last time you had eaten? It must be over a day now. With the state of your stomach it might be better for you to hold off on food.

You lean your head back against the rock wall, thoughts racing through your head. Will Spinel come back? Will she somehow force you to go back to Beach City? Or will she be the understanding Gem that had begun to emerge from her trauma and fear?

You decide you’re too tired to care about that right now. You can’t control her  anymore than she can control you, and she’ll do whatever she’ll do. Since you can’t get water on your own, you determine it’s best to try to sleep more, hopefully your fever will break while you’re  resting and you can show Spinel that everything will be fine.

You lay down against the wall, not too far from the fire, and slide into a fitful sleep.

You’re startled from your rest by a nearby thump, and you lift your head slowly to see what caused the sound. Spinel sits a few feet to your left, back to the wall and knees pulled to her chest.

“Spinel...?” you ask tentatively, sitting up and rubbing  at  your eyes. It’s still bright out, maybe a little past noon, but your eyes are sensitive to the light so you squint to give them time to adjust.

“Hey, doll,” Spinel mutters, turning her head slightly towards you.

“You’re back,” you say plainly, and mentally kick yourself. 

_ “Obviously she’s back, idiot,” _ you think.

“Yeah. I, uh...”

She takes a shaky breath in and lifts her head, her eyes darting around. 

“...wanted to apologize. I’m sorry for  pushin ’  ya to go back,” she says sincerely, voice wavering a bit. She sounds really shaken up. 

“You know more about yourself and your body than I do, and if you think you can stay here and be okay... I’ll trust you,” she finishes, before resting her head back on her arms. 

You sigh and scoot awkwardly over to her, before tentatively taking her hand. 

“Thank you for apologizing, Spins. I’m sorry too... I could have handled that better. I guess I’ve just... grown used to our little island, y’know?”

You shoot her a smile, hoping she can’t hear the lie in your voice. Well, not a lie exactly, but...  definitely not the full truth.

Spinel nods and returns your smile, snaking an arm around your shoulder and pulling you in close.

“I know, toots. I like it here too. With you, at least. It was, uh...  kinda lonely for the past few hours without ‘cha.”

“Where did you go, anyway?” you ask curiously.

“Well, at first I went to the beach, but that didn’t really help calm me down.  So I went back to camp and rebuild the lean-to for us,” she explains, “Figured you could use it, and might be cozier than this hunk of rock.”

You grin and gaze up at her mischievously. “Oh, you mean this rock?” you say, tapping the center of her gem once.

Spinel raises an eyebrow and shudders slightly at your touch. “Pff, yeah, sure. Like you don’t love  leanin ’ on me,” she teases back, reminding you of your favorite cuddling position.

“Anyway, while I was there, I thought of something... I know you don’t  wanna go back yet and I respect that.  Honestly I’m not super keen on the idea either, but... you do need help  gettin ' better. How ‘bout I fly over and get some stuff for you? Food, water, medicine, whatever you need.”

Your eyes widen in disbelief. “You’d... do that for me? Spinel, if any of the Gems see you-”

“I know, doll. But hey, I don’t have to go to Beach City- in fact, it’s probably better that I don’t. I can just find some other place to look for stuff, get in and out real quick, yeah?” 

You find her hand and squeeze it, looking at her with concern. “If you really want to do this, I won’t stop you, okay? Just... be careful. I don’t want you to meet the Gems without me there.”

“I’ll be fine, darlin’. I’m quicker than I look,” she says with a cheeky grin and a wink. 

“Now, tell me what I’m  gonna be lookin’ for.”

** _x * x * x * x * x _ **

Spinel’s head is racing with everything that could go wrong. As she makes her way to the beach, she tries to run through all the instructions and information you had given her.

_ “Okay, so... bottles of water, food that’s not frozen or needs to be cooked, and most importantly, flu and cough medicine,” _ she recounts, making sure she’s memorized the list,  _ “and any grocery store will do... I hope I can  _ _ actually recognize _ _ the stores...” _

Having finally reached the beach, Spinel wades out into the ocean, stretching her legs so she can walk out to deeper water. 

_ “If Y/n had known I’d hidden the injector here that first day... oof.” _

The Gem blows the horn to call the massive injector up from the sea, and she springs up quickly to the top, sending the injector flying immediately.  She resolves that whatever town she happens upon first will be where she lands. In and out as quickly as possible, just like she promised.

The injector finds land quicker than Spinel thought, and she gasps when she flies up over a large hill, revealing a giant, towering city. It’s larger than anything she’s seen yet on Earth- many of the buildings dwarf the injector, and down the center she can see giant screens plastered everywhere. If it were night, she’s sure the lights from the screens would light up the city as if it were still day.

Spinel quickly reroutes the injector, landing it far outside the city, near some abandoned warehouses. 

She swings down, springing quickly towards the city. As she nears the outskirts, she becomes hyperaware of all the humans around her. Her nerves are incredibly heightened, and she tries to keep her head down. She knows she looks out of place, but... no one seems to pay her any mind. 

_ “Huh. Maybe they've seen other Gems?” _

She tries to clear her head of worries, and pushes faster through the crowd, glancing frantically at the storefronts.  Finally she sees a store whose name she recognizes, one of the stores you told her about. She ducks in, and heads straight for the back of the store to get her bearings.

Once she’s positive no one is following her or watching her, she searches up and down the aisles. It’s times like these that she’s thankful she was a Gem made for a diamond- the storage function of her Gem really comes in handy here.

After grabbing water and some food she thinks is acceptable, she heads over to the medicine aisle. 

_ “This is where things get confusing, huh...”  _ she thinks as she stares at the large assortment of packages. It’s almost overwhelming, the  amount of things humans need just to stay alive. The words on the bottles seem to swirl together as she panics slightly, not seeing any sign of the medicine she needs to get for you.

Before she can get her bearings and try to keep calm, she hears other customers approaching the area. She swiftly grabs a bunch of bottles and packages off the shelf and stores them in her gem, hoping that something will work for you.

All she wants is to see you happy and healthy, and she will do anything to achieve that for you. 

Spinel  makes an attempt to walk casually out of the store, and back towards the injector, but based on a few glances from passing strangers, she’s pretty sure she failed at that. 

_ “Yeah, stare at the pink weirdo, why  _ _ don’tcha _ _ ,”  _ she thinks as she rushes down the sidewalk. She doesn’t care what people think of her, she got what she came for and now she can go back to you. You’re all that matters, anyway.

Well, that’s not totally true. She knows she wants to make a life here on Earth, and part of that will mean becoming independent. That’s why making everything right with the Crystal Gems is especially important...

And Steven. Steven, who tried desperately to give her every chance he  could, but was clearly exhausted from fighting for Pink Diamond’s mistakes over and over again. She hoped he could find it in his heart to give her one last chance...

Spinel tries to dispel the distracting  thoughts, and works on making her way back to the injector. You reassured her before she left that you’d be find, since she had gotten you water and a banana to try to keep down. But Spinel was worried anyway.

Finally she reaches the injector and heads back out to sea, spurring it to go as fast as possible. It’s only been a few hours since she left you, but she can’t wait to see your lovely face again...

Somewhere else in the city, Mayor  Nanafua steps out of a convention building, having just met up with the neighboring cities' mayors. She happens to glance towards the horizon and spots a distinctly pink flying object hurtling out towards the ocean. She rushes to pull out her phone.

“Steven? I think I may have found who you’re looking for.”

** _x * x * x * x * x _ **

While Spinel is off stealing for you (something you’re going to have to be sure to condemn later, but for right now is...  actually kind of hot), you do a whole lot of nothing. You’re too afraid to walk around much for fear of fainting or throwing up again, but you don’t really want to just sit around and think your thoughts.

You decide to doodle in the dirt, not particularly well, but it passes the time. You zone out while you trace figures in the ground, your head feeling fuzzy from the sickness and boredom.

Finally, you hear a distant noise, a whirring of mechanical parts followed by a huge splash. You sit up in anticipation- Spinel is back!

Sure enough, a few minutes later she walks into view, dripping wet from the ocean. But...

“Hey, where’s... where’s all the stuff? Did something go wrong?” you ask, concern creeping into your voice.

“What? Oh, no! I got everything, don’t you worry.”

She pulls a water bottle from her gem and hands it to you, which you take gratefully.

“Gem storage, remember?”

“Huh, I thought only Pearls had that for some reason, I’ve never seen Amethyst or Garnet use anything like that,” you comment in between gulps of deliciously filtered water.

“Well it doesn’t make sense for an Amethyst soldier to need to carry around much more than a weapon, right? Same goes for Ruby. Sapphire is too high ranking to carry around her own things. But Gems who were built to serve directly, like me an’ Pearl, well. We’re like the Gem version of Greg’s storage unit,” Spinel jokes with a chuckle.

“Aww, my little storage container,” you say mockingly as you bat your eyelashes at her. She snickers and pushes your shoulder lightly, happy to play along.

“Yes, my dear, let me see what else I have in store for you,” she says in a sing-song voice. Food, water and medicine materialize in front of you, and your eyes go wide.

“Spinel, oh my gosh. Why did you get so much medicine? I really only needed one or two boxes!” you exclaim.

“Uh, I  kinda ... panicked when other people started  walkin ’ towards me,” the Gem says sheepishly. “ So I just grabbed a bunch and ran. I hope somethin’ in here works for you...”

You laugh softly and begin to pick through the pile, and find a good number that will work just fine. You take one of the flu pills and gulp it down with a swig of sweet, sweet water. 

“All right! Now let’s see what you grabbed food-wise...”

You haven’t been this full in days. Granted, you were  sick so you get full more easily, but still, eating something other than bananas and fish was just wonderful. You lean back against the rock wall with a happy sigh, grateful that you finally had variety in your diet again. 

Spinel had grabbed all manner of snack food- chips, cookies, basically one of everything. It wasn’t the healthiest, but it was all you could make without needing other appliances. You’d live.

“Satisfied?” Spinel asks in an amused tone from her spot on the wall.

You nod vigorously. “Oh yeah. That’ll hold me for a while. Thank you,” you add, wanting to make sure she knew how thankful you were. She really risked a lot going back to civilization on the injector. And while you can’t say you weren’t worried, you had faith that she would be okay- she was extremely agile and quick and knew to book it if anyone had come after her.

“By the way, where did you end up going for all this? Not Beach City, I assume?”

“Stars, no. It was some giant  city, I’d never seen it before. Looked pretty cool though, lots of people and lights and huge screens. I might have to add that to my Earth bucket list.”

“Spinel.”

“Y-yeah?”

“That’s Empire City. I live there,” you say with a chuckle, “Or at least, I live there when I’m at college.  So uh... yeah, we can probably get you there at some point.”

Spinel’s eyes shine with excitement and her voice pitches up slightly. “Wow, really? That’ll be swell! I, uh... really want to go places with you,” she adds shyly.

You give her a soft smile and extend your arms to her, motioning her in for a hug. She places her head on your chest, and you wrap yourself around her as much as you can, wanting to give her the same comfort she gives you.

“I feel the same,” you finally reply, and Spinel sighs happily from her place against you. 

The two of you sit like that for a while, the silence only breaking with the occasional cough from you or the crackling of the fire. Normally you would love to take a nap like this, but something about Spinel being so close to you like this has your heart pounding rapidly, and every inch of your body is on high alert. You generally enjoy being the little spoon, at least with Spinel, so this is a nice change of pace, and boy are you loving it.

Spinel apparently feels more relaxed than you, because you can feel her head start to grow heavier against your sternum. You shift slightly against the wall so that you’re a more adequate  pillow, and lift your hand tentatively to the back of the Gem’s head. When she doesn’t wake up to your touch, you begin petting her head lightly, and humming softly to her.

_ “Yeah... I could stay with her forever.” _

** _x * x * x * x * x _ **

At some point, you had drifted off against your will. It's been a while since you were last sick, and you had forgotten how tiring it really is.

But thankfully after this nap, you’re  actually feeling much better- the medicine must be kicking in, along with your immune system. You sit up slowly, your back aching from being in such an uncomfortable position for however long. Spinel seems to wake then, rising with you and rubbing her eyes.

“Have a nice nap?” you ask her, placing a hand on her cheek gently.

“ Mmm ... yeah, I did,” she replies honestly. “Your heartbeat is so comforting...”

You flush instantly, her words making your heart flutter. “O-oh? I’m glad, hon...”

The Gem squeezes your middle and makes a happy noise, causing you to flush more. You love that she’s in such a good mood, and that you’re feeling better... everything is turning out all right.

“Oh! I was  thinkin ’,” Spinel says suddenly, popping up again, “We should go back to camp now, if you’re feeling up to it? It’s nice here an’ all but uh, I rebuilt the shelter this morning...”

"Ooh, don’t  wanna let your hard work go to waste? I see how it is,” you tease, nudging her with your shoulder. 

She blushes slightly and blurts out, “I mean we can stay if  ya want but-”

“Spinel, I was only teasing,  you dork. I’ll go back with you,” you reply.

“O-oh, right! Okay!”

With that, Spinel jumps up and begins gathering all the supplies back into her  Gem, and puts out the fire quickly. She turns to you and reaches out a hand, which you gladly take. She pulls you up and immediately lifts you into a bridal-style carry.

“S-Spinel?? What are you doing?” you sputter out, “I can walk on my own-”

“Yeah, but I don’t want  ya to,  dollface ,” she purrs.

You blush once more and bury your head into the side of her neck, hiding your face from the Gem. You don’t want to let on just how flustered this makes you. 

You let her carry you all the way back, and she sets you down gingerly by the old fire pit. You take stock of the camp while Spinel rushes over to the pond and large rocks, appearing to be frantically searching for something.

“Spinel? What are you looking for?” 

“Oh, uh... that thing- oh! Here it is!” 

She picks up the shell you had given her a few days ago and smiles warmly at it before phasing it into her Gem.

“Not makin’ that mistake again,” she says proudly before waltzing back over to you.

“Aw, that’s sweet, you like my dumb gift,” you say with a grin, causing her to pout at you dramatically.

“But it’s not dumb, it’s a treasure! Just like you,” she teases, pulling you in for a hug.

You roll your eyes, but tuck your head under her chin, mumbling, “Like I said, Miss Dramatic.”

The two of you spend some time talking by the  newly-lit fire, her mostly just asking for more details on your life. You tell her what you’re studying in school, about your job at the café in Beach City, about how you grew up. She listens intently like always, and while you talk, you feel a pang in your heart that she can’t really reciprocate with stories of her own. 

But you’re determined to change that.

** _x * x * x * x * x _ **

** **

You let the days pass, slowly recovering with the help of the medicine and Spinel. She offers to do everything for you, but you had to draw the line at walking- it was cute the one time, but you really didn’t need to be carried everywhere. The nausea from that first day was long gone, and your fever broke the first night back at camp. But you revel in letting her do the  more simple things- bringing you water, holding you as you rest, rubbing circles on your back when you have bad coughing fits. 

But the nights with her are what you love the most. Falling asleep and waking up in each other's arms, stealing glances at her sleeping form (and you’re sure she does the same for you, as you’ve woken up many times in the night with her stroking your cheek or hands affectionately). All this  domestic-type living makes you yearn for a chance at a real life with her, off the island.

So when she approaches you nervously on the fourth day after moving back to camp, you feel like you know what she’s going to ask before she says it.

“Hey, Y/n, I was  wonderin ’... Or, I was thinking, I mean... I think I might be comfortable  goin ’ back to Beach City?” 

She inhales shakily and a look of resolve finds its way to her face. “No. I mean, I know I’m comfortable going back. But- are you?”

She looks at you with worry and anticipation, and you smile softly in return. You take her hands in yours in between you two and gaze up at her with adoration.

“Yes, Spinel. I think I’m ready too.”


	9. The Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the wait on this one! I hope you all enjoy! <3

As Spinel leads you down to the beach hand in hand, you can’t help but star e at the back of her form in wonder. Just a few weeks ago this Gem had shaken up your whole life, ruined your summer plans, hurt your friends. And then just as you were starting to warm up to her, she kidnapped you- hell of a first date. You honestly thought you could never look past that, and granted, it was a pretty horrible thing to do. But then something just... changed. Or rather, she did.

And now... now you feel so incredibly lucky to have her. Everything is still new to both of you, her especially, but the prospect of getting to learn together absolutely thrills you. And though Spinel isn’t as talkative or open about her feelings... you suspect she feels the same.

The two of you burst through the  tree line , almost sprinting towards the water. Spinel turns slightly to give you a grin over her shoulder, and your stomach flips happily.

_ “God _ _ , _ _ she’s trouble for my heart,”  _ you think warmly as you return the smile.

You stop at the ocean’s edge, and release Spinel’s hand as she morphs her pinky into the horn to call the injector. It rises from off the coast- much closer than you ever imagined she’d leave it.

“Has... that been there the whole time?” you ask incredulously, turning to the pink Gem.

“Uh... y-yeah?” she replies sheepishly, shifting her pinky back to normal.

You shake your head with a small smile. “Dang. Could have escaped at any time,” you joke.

Spinel’s answering smile spreads across her face. “Oh yeah? Go ahead, get up there on  yer own,” she replies, accent slipping in as it always does when she teases you.

“I’ll do It right now!” you  exclaim, and begin to race through the surf. You look back in surprise as Spinel grabs your middle and pulls you back to her, both of you giggling and laughing as you pretend to try to get away. 

You sigh and try to calm your laughter, turning in Spinel’s arms to look up to her. She unwraps her arms and rests her hands on your hips, gazing down at you with a soft expression.

“Are you... sure about this, doll?” she asks you softly, “I know you were nervous a few days ago...”

“Spinel, I... I know, and I’m sorry for that. It was just me being irrational but... I really want to go back with you. Besides the pluses of being able to be back in society again, I want to show the others that you’re a good person and  that.. . I care about you,” you finish, blushing and ducking your face into the crook of her neck.

She wraps herself around your shoulders, settling her chin on the top of your head. “Okay, doll. I’m nervous, but... I want that too. And apparently someone needs a shower?” 

“Pff, maybe...” you reply, burying your face more in embarrassment. After a moment you pull back and take her hands off your shoulders, holding them between the two of you.

“Spinel... I just want you to know I really care about you. And whatever happens, I’ll be by your side. We’ll show everyone that you’ve changed. Okay?”

Tears well up in her eyes and she flings herself around you once more, squeezing you tightly. You shift a  little so her Gem isn’t pressing up against you too hard, and rub small circles into her back.

“Ok, c’mon Miss Dramatic,” you joke, trying to lighten the mood, “don’t want to be crying when we get back to Beach City.”

Spinel lifts her head from your shoulder  reluctantly and cups a hand to your face.

“Ready, doll?”

_ **x * x * x * x * x ** _

After scooping you up rather deftly and leaping to the top of the injector (which, you  have to admit, was kind of fun), you’re soon setting off for Beach City. Or rather, the direction Spinel _t_ _ hinks  _ is towards Beach City. 

“If you know how to get back to Empire City from here, I could probably direct you towards Beach City?” you suggest, scooching closer to Spinel so she can hear you over the rush of wind. She nods, and directs the injector slightly more towards the left, wrapping an arm around your waist once she’s done. You smile at the contact and lean into her, settling in for what you know to be a long flight. 

It had taken at least a couple hours on the way to the island ;  Spinel having taken you in the early morning since you’d been up all night racing from the concert to the Garden and back again. You don’t know how long it was for her trip to Empire City, but it must have been at least an hour, since it had taken her around 3 hours to return to you with all the  definitely not stolen goods.

You muse silently for a while, enjoying the sun beating down on you and the feeling of Spinel holding onto you- maybe a little too tightly. 

_ “Probably worried about me falling off the edge or something,”  _ you figure. You swing your legs around so they’re lying over her lap instead of dangling off the edge, and you see her visibly relax.

“Aww, were you worried?” you tease, poking her on the shoulder.

She rolls her eyes but can’t fight the smile that finds its way to her face. “ Mm... Maybe a bit,” she replies, pulling you closer to her and moving the both of you more towards the middle of the injector. 

You place your  hands on top of her arms, holding her against you. You look up at her and smile, watching as she concentrates to try to remember the way she needs to go.

“Are you nervous?” you whisper after a moment, startling her slightly. 

“ Bout what?” she asks absent-mindedly, still gazing out over the horizon.

“Going back. Having to... face everyone,” you say, trying to keep your voice from wavering.

“W-well, yeah. Can’t say I’m not,” she says with a slight chuckle, “but I’m also... Oddly calm. Having you with me right here, right now...”

She trails off and idly runs her hands over your arms, making you shiver even in the hot sun.

“I know it’ll go great,” you reply, eyes fluttering closed at her touch. 

You float like that for a while, head against Spinel’s shoulder, just reveling in the feeling of her gentle touches. You resolve not to drift off, to just enjoy being with her in the simplicity that is the moment. As you gaze across the ever-approaching horizon, you can’t help but smile to yourself at the way things have turned out.

You’d fallen for a Gem or two in your time, sure- namely, Pearl- so you didn’t find being with one like this particularly odd, but... what you did find odd was that you ended up with a Gem  that you hadn’t known for long in comparison. But in a way, that made this  all the more exciting- you got to discover everything about each other.

And god, were you looking forward to that.

After an hour or so of idle chatter and lots of cuddling (while, of course, hurtling through the air on a giant injector), you start to see a city peak up over the horizon.

“Oh! Spinel, look! It’s Empire City!” you exclaim, getting as close to the edge as you feel comfortable with.

“Oh yeah, wow! Guess I remembered the right way after all,” Spinel replies with a light chuckle. “Okay, toots, it’s all you now. Where do we go from here?”

Spinel directs the injector up higher, just above the clouds- enough that you can still see the land below but hopefully high enough that you won’t be easily spotted.

You look for a road you recognize, the main  highway that you usually take to get to and from Beach City for the summers. It’s harder to tell from up so high, but you figure the general direction should suffice anyway, since you’ll be able to see Beach City in the distance  as long as you go the right way. 

It’s still a ways away, so you sit back with Spinel once more, this time simply holding her hand while you gaze down below. After a moment, you notice Spinel  fidgeting next to you, crossing and uncrossing her legs, clenching your hand in hers, her other hand reaching up to her hair.

You turn to face her once you check that the  highway is still directly below you.

“Spinel? You... you  doing okay?” you ask gently, reaching out to take her other hand from her hair.

“I... I’ll be okay, Y/n. Don’t worry ‘bout me,” she gets out breathily, voice shaking.

“Spinel. You’re clearly not okay,” you stay sternly, cupping her face in your hands. Her eyes focus on yours, and she relaxes slightly to your touch.

“I’m sorry. I’m... just  freakin ’ out a bit, is all. I don’t know what’s  gonna happen when we get back and I’m terrified... that they’ll send me back somewhere. Or they’ll just hate me forever and...”

She trails off and averts her gaze back to the world below. You sigh and lean back a bit, clasping your hands together in between the two of you.

“Spinel, I know these thoughts are hard to ignore sometimes. And you have every right to worry about this stuff, I’m... a little nervous too. But when  things like this come up, I want you to know you can talk to me, ok? You don’t have to sit next to me in silence when you’re suffering. I want to try to help you through it as best as I can.”

Spinel turns back to you and nods, and surprisingly, you see no tears in her eyes this time. 

“I don’t mean to keep stuff from ya... It’s just habit, I guess. Not used to having someone to talk to, y’know?”

She squeezes your hand softly and offers you an apologetic smile. 

“I know, Spins. But whenever you can, try to remember I’m here for you, all right?” 

She lets out a shuddering sigh and meets your eyes with resolve. “Thank you. And I will always be here for you too, ok doll?”

You open your mouth to start to reply, when the injector suddenly rushes through a particularly thick cloud. It’s hard to see much of anything, and you’re startled from finishing your thought.

“Did we lose the direction?” Spinel calls out.

“I don’t know, I can’t see the ground!” you reply, frantically searching for any break in the clouds below you.

“It’s ok, I’ll keep it steady until the clouds-”

She cuts herself off as the sunlight rushes back in. You squint at the sudden brightness, before your eyes widen and you gasp.

“Spinel! It’s right there! We made it!” you exclaim happily as Beach City quickly comes into view. You sound happy  e ven as your insides flip. No going back now, no matter how nervous the both of you are.

“We... we did make it,” she replies, sounding every bit as worried as you feel.

As you loom closer to your favorite city, your face falls as Lighthouse Park comes further into view- you'd forgotten about the damage that last battle had done to the ground there...and the surrounding ocean still had traces of pink in it. You glance over at Spinel to gauge her reaction, and her face seems... crestfallen.

“Spinel, it’s ok. We can help undo this,” you say softly, taking her hand in yours once more.

She simply nods and morphs her pinky to direct the injector.  Finally you were going to be home safe and-

_ “HEY!” _

Your knees almost buckle at the voice that sounds behind you. Amethyst! You turn to greet your friend, who is riding with Peridot on a large piece of metal, floating just behind the injector. Instead y ou’re met with an expression that is decidedly unwelcoming. But her gaze isn’t focused on you- it's on the Gem sitting next to you, who is recoiling in fear.

“Give her back to us!”  Amethyst calls out, much to your dismay.

“Amethyst, wait-”

Before you can finish your thought, Amethyst is pulling out her Gem weapon, and you can only guess what she means to do with it.  Your gaze shifts to Peridot, who you note is holding the retracted rejuvenator slightly out of sight.  This is not how you wanted this to go. How were they even ready this fast? Had they been following you or something?

You turn to Spinel, who is already one step ahead of you. The injector zooms forward, and you hear the snap of Amethyst’s whip behind you, just narrowly missing the pink Gem. 

“Bring her back  you clod!” a scratchy voice calls out as you race forward.

“Spinel, wait! We  have to talk to go back and talk to them! Remember?” 

You grip her arm frantically and look up at her with pleading eyes. Her face falls as she registers your expression, and she sighs heavily.

“I know, doll, but... they’re  tryin ’ to attack you! Us! Peridot... she had the Rejuvenator-! ”

“No, no, I think they think you’re still trying to hurt me for some reason! But if we talk to  them , we can explain!”

Spinel closes her eyes for a moment, and you feel like you can see the thoughts racing through her head. 

“Yeah. Ok, you’re right. We can-”

_ “Y/n!” _

You immediately groan and roll your eyes, turning once more to face the voice. This time you’re surprised to see the Gem calling your name- flying in what looks like a modified Peridot ship?

“Pearl?!” you exclaim incredulously , “What are you doing?”

“Saving you!”

“Pearl-”

“I can’t do this!” Spinel exclaims, interrupting you. You turn back to face her, and she’s already blowing on the horn, directing the injector to speed off again, this time over land, thankfully. 

You huff in anger and turn back towards Beach City, where you can see the two groups of Gems racing to catch up, joined by Lapis carrying Steven. 

“It’s all of them,” you mutter. “Spinel, we can’t leave again! Find somewhere to land!”

She doesn’t answer you and continues pushing the injector faster- faster than you thought it could go, honestly. You hold on to the Gem and brace yourself, shutting your eyes against the wind whipping across your face.

You turn back after a moment, away from the wind, to see if you’re still being followed. You heave a sigh of relief when you realize you can no longer see Pearl’s ship, Lapis, or Amethyst and Peridot. Your relief is short lived, however, because Spinel has apparently picked a spot to land.

The injector comes to a swift halt over top of a giant field, way out in the countryside. You grip Spinel’s arm  tighter  as it lowers into the ground, luckily having no poison left to use on the Earth. It settles with a loud rumble, and you finally relinquish your grasp on the Gem.

She takes the opportunity to slump down, wrapping her arms around her knees and hiding her head between them. You sigh and sit down next to her, gazing out across the landscape and watching the wind blow through the tall grass below.

“I... I’m sorry,” Spinel finally says after a few minutes.

“I know,  hun , I know. It’s ok,” you reply quietly, circling your arms around her middle and pulling her closer to you.

“I just... that was so scary,” she continues, her voice small and pitiful, “I couldn’t see a way to make them listen and I didn’t want them to take you away from me...”

“I wouldn’t have let them,” you retort sternly, trying to reassure her. “Even if they had been able to grab me, I could have talked them down... I think,” you add, suddenly unsure. 

“What... what do we do now?” Spinel asks, lifting her head and wiping the tears from her eyes. Your heart melts at the sight- she's been through so much and still has the drive to keep going, to keep asking ‘what’s next.’ You truly admire her for that .

“Well... we have to go back,” you point out, “or we could let them find us I suppose, but that might end pretty poorly.”

Spinel doesn’t answer, so you continue, “We can probably spare a few more minutes though, if you need a chance to calm down?”

The pink Gem nods and snuggles in closer to you, burrowing the top of her head under your chin. You wrap your arms around her small frame and hold her, hoping the beat of your heart can be as calming as it once was back on your small island of paradise. 

You let her sit there for a bit, but once you feel her trembling start to subside, you move a hand to the back of her head and give her a few soft pets.

“We have to be strong now, okay Spins?” you say gently,  prompting her to lift her head and meet your eyes.

Before she can say anything, you give a quick kiss to the tip  of her nose, earning a light chuckle. You smile and squeeze her tightly for a moment before standing.

“All right. You can do this, Spinel.  _ We _ can do this. I believe in you.”

You reach out a hand to her which she takes, pulling herself up off the top of the injector. 

“All right. Yeah. We can do this,” she repeats back, trying out a confident smile.

“That’s the spirit!” you exclaim, “Now... we may not want to fly back on this big intimidating injector... you up for a walk?”

** _x * x * x * x * x _ **

Twenty minutes into the walk back to Beach City, and you’re already regretting your life choices. The tall grass is much rougher to walk through than it had looked, and you had apparently severely underestimated how far Spinel had flown the damn injector, what with your eyes being closed most of the ride. 

After bringing you down from the injector in her arms, Spinel had offered to carry you the rest of the way, which you of course refused- you weren’t sick anymore and could walk fine on your own, thank you very much. Now you almost wish you’d taken her up on the offer, just so you could reach Beach City faster. But you weren’t one to relent so easily, so you kept trudging on.

Spinel had been silent most of the walk- most of the day, really. You knew she was incredibly scared of going back, and though she had felt ready this morning, you can’t imagine the ‘greeting’ the two of you received had done much to ease her nerves. 

_ “I’ve done all the comforting I can do,” _ you think, looking over to your favorite Gem sadly,  _ “she has to figure out the rest on her own.” _

The silence as you walk is... uncomfortable, to say the least. You don’t seem to have much to talk about outside the current situation, and you don’t really feel like talking anyway- you're too wrapped up in your own worries to be concerned with how the Gem is feeling  at the moment .

You had tried to avoid considering it before, but you had to face reality now- what if they really don’t accept  Spinel? Disregarding the whole relationship thing, if they don’t even let her stay in Beach City... or even on Earth? What if they poof and bubble her before you can get a chance to do anything? 

You don’t have any answers to these questions that are building inside you. You can guess, but ultimately, you decide that things are going to play out as they will, and all you can do is help them get to where you want them to be. 

You can only hope Spinel will feel the same way.

The nerves return to ravage your system around 45 minutes into your walk, when you can start to see Lighthouse Park peeking up over a hill. You want to stay strong, present a unified front to the Crystal Gems, but you can feel yourself unraveling on the  inside .

Still, you manage to keep it together as the two of you walk up the peak of the hill overlooking Beach City. You stop to catch your breath as Spinel walks up from behind you, and gingerly takes your hand in hers.

“Ready to try again, doll?” she asks softly.

You huff, rather exhausted from the long hike, but nod in agreement. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

You start the journey down, being the first one to break from her hand. Spinel may have all the grace and balance of a perfect lifeform, but you certainly do not, and this is a pretty steep hill.

You almost trip over a protruding rock that you hadn’t noticed, and Spinel quickly stretches her arms to support you, holding you in place until she can make her way to you.

“Woah  there doll, havin’ a little trouble walking, huh?” she teases as she releases you, leaving you to your own devices.

You furrow your brow and stick out your tongue in response, knowing full well you look ridiculous. She laughs heartily, the loudest you’ve heard all day.

“Never seen  _ that _ face before, love,” she comments in between giggles, “it’s certainly... a look!”

“Yeah, yeah, I make dumb faces,” you huff, continuing down the hill more carefully. You know you’re being a bit childish, but the closer you get to home, the more on edge you feel. You’re not really in the mood for joking, and Spinel seems to register this, as she falls silent after your comment and continues walking behind you.

You reach the base of the hill with no more mishaps, thankfully. As you wait for Spinel to catch up, you sigh heavily, gazing out at the city you love so much. Whatever is waiting for you upon your return... you just hope you’ll be strong enough to face it.

A hand closes around yours, soft and unsure. You look up to your left to see Spinel giving you a tentative smile, and you give her a curt nod before beginning to lead her down the path to Beach City.

As you walk towards the town, you notice it’s eerily still. You have no idea what day it is, so it could very well be a weekday and people are still inside at work or school, but... the fact that the Gems were nowhere in sight either was concerning.

You grip Spinel’s hand tighter, and the two of you make your way down onto the boardwalk. You want the Gems to see you and Spinel together, wherever they are. They need to know not to attack first, and they definitely won’t when you’re this close to the pink Gem.

You hear the slight flap of wings before you see her- Lapis makes her way down from the air, with Steven behind her- for a moment you’re startled, but then you recall his floating powers; something you had only seen a few times years ago.

Next come Pearl and Garnet in the new ship, probably worked on in tandem by both Pearl and Peridot, judging by the green exterior. The front opens and you lock eyes with Pearl, a blush of  embarrassment creeping onto your cheeks before you can stop it. You’re gripping Spinel’s hand impossibly tight now, and you’re glad that she doesn’t feel as much pain as a human; you’re sure you’d be crushing her hand right now if she did.

You  have to avert your gaze from Pearl as your stomach sinks- she's looking at you exactly as you had feared she would. Confusion, mistrust... you can’t believe this is happening.

Peridot and Amethyst fly in last, zooming over from somewhere else in the town. You look almost pleadingly at Amethyst, hoping she’ll try to take your side on this- or at least meet you somewhere in the middle. Her expression is unreadable to you, which with her is... usually not good.

You sigh softly and decide to get this over with. No use delaying the inevitable. 

“So, uh...hey guys,” you say quietly after clearing your throat, “Long time no see?”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Amethyst says with a roll of her eyes, stepping  off Peridot’s floating metal.

“How... how long has it been?” you ask, glancing around the group.

“About seventeen days, nine hours and... fifty-five minutes,” Peridot answers swiftly, glancing at her  strapped-on wrist tablet.

“Oh...gosh.” 

You genuinely hadn’t realized it had been that long. The days all sort of blurred together, especially with the sickness. It was no wonder they looked concerned and pissed off that you saunter in holding hands with your captor.

Subconsciously , you let go of Spinel, and take a step towards Pearl’s floating ship.

“Guys, we need to talk. Spinel-”

“Spinel what?” Pearl spits out rather aggressively, leaving you taken aback and wide eyed. “Spinel took  you, we don’t hear from you for weeks and now you come back holding hands? What  _ is  _ this, Y/n?”

You suck in a breath and turn to  Spinel, whose face seems to be shifting between expressions of anger and worry. This time it’s her turn to reach out and grip your hand too tightly, but unfortunately you  _ can  _ be hurt- the sudden pain causes you to yank your hand back from her grasp involuntarily. She startles backwards, and shoots you a pained look. Your heart sinks and you shut your eyes for a moment, trying to regain composure. This is not how you wanted this to go.

“Ok, look, everyone  stop for a second and let me explain.”

You pause and watch for the groups’ reaction, nodding slightly when they all seem to agree to stay silent.

“All right.  Thank you.” you turn to the pink Gem who has recoiled into herself, looking more nervous than you’ve ever seen her.

“Spinel, hon? Do you want to say anything?”

She closes her eyes and sighs, a resolute look passing over her features. She quickly unwraps her arms from herself and steps in front of you, looking at each member of the group before finally locking eyes with Steven, who stood next to Lapis.

“I am... so sorry for all that I’ve done,” she says, her voice quivering in fear, “I h-have no excuses, but I’d like  t’make things right in any way I can. If you’ll let me.”

You look to Steven, the first person you’d expect to extend the olive branch.

He sighs and shakes his head, and your eyes go wide- is he really going to refuse?

“Spinel, I want to give you that second chance. Well, third chance at this point,” he says with an awkward chuckle.

“I just... the Gems and I need to talk to Y/n and hear what happened while you were...gone,” he finishes, giving Spinel a shrug.

You turn to your companion and she glances between you and Steven frantically for a moment, before clasping her hands tightly in front of her.

“Fine,” she says, voice louder than before. “Just... don’t try to pull a fast one and take her away from me, yeah?” 

Pearl furrows her brows as she ushers you a couple feet away, leaving Peridot and Lapis hanging back to watch over Spinel.

You form a sort of circle with the Crystal Gems, hands on your hips and glancing between them expectantly.

“Well? What’s up with everything, Y/n?” Amethyst spits out, “What the hell is the deal with all... that?”

“Y/n, it just seems... like a really weird situation,” Steven admits, scratching the back of his neck.

You heave out a sigh- something you’re doing frequently today, you’ve noticed. 

“I told you guys I could take care of it,” you reply, giving them a pointed look. They need to know that you’re not incapable just because you’re human, and while you appreciate the protectiveness, it’s time to back off a little.

The group reacts... much differently than you had expected.

“ Oooh ,” Pearl breathes out, a look of realization crossing her features.

You tilt your head in confusion, and mutter out, “Huh...?”

Amethyst looks towards Pearl, who motions her forward to whisper in her ear.

“Oh, I gotcha!” Amethyst exclaims, looking your way.

“What? What are you getting?” you ask, clearly missing something.

“Don’t worry, Y/n,” Garnet says, speaking up for the first time since you got back, “We can handle it from here.”

“O-okay...” you stutter, still terribly confused and a little concerned. 

They lead you back to Lapis, Peridot and Spinel, who seem to have been standing in silence the whole time.

You try to meet Spinel’s eyes, but she looks downcast, avoiding your gaze.

“So!” Pearl exclaims, clasping her hands together, “We’ve figured out what’s going on!” 

_ “What? I barely told her anything,” _ you think, wondering what she could have surmised from what you said.

“We just need to sort everything out with some... things...” she glances towards Spinel at the last word as she trails off, and you cross your arms in front of you. Whatever she is thinking, she very clearly has the wrong idea.

“I heard,” Spinel cuts in before you can speak your mind. She turns to you with swirling eyes, and a sense of dread and déjà vu washes over you. 

“I heard what ya said- when I took you. ‘I can handle this.’ Yeah, that’s what it was.” Her voice grows deeper and she narrows her  eyes, but doesn’t move.

“You can handle this... as in, you can trick me into  thinkin ’ you care about me to get me to take  ya back? To play with my feelin’s like I’m just a toy that you need to get rid of as soon as possible?”

Your stomach sinks, and you feel nauseous. How is this happening again?

Suddenly, a springy pink arm  shoots forward, but not towards you. Spinel catches Peridot by surprise, grabbing the rejuvenator from her grip before she can react. The Crystal Gems get into position around you, ready to protect you and each other if need be. 

She looks at you sadly, her eyes returned to their normal pink hue. Glancing between you and the rejuvenator in her hand, she shakes her head, then suddenly turns and runs back the way you had come from. 

“Spinel!” you call out hopelessly. She’s too fast, springing through the outcropping of trees and out of sight before you can even move. 

Tears well up in your eyes as you turn on the other Gems.

“What the  _ hell? _ ” you scream, not caring about keeping it together at this point.

“You made her think- I wouldn’t... why would you think I would manipulate her like that for  _ weeks _ just to get back here?” you screech, tears freely falling down your cheeks. 

“Y/n, no, I...” Pearl whispers pathetically, placing a hand over her mouth.

You glare at her before rounding on Garnet. “And you! You have future vision, yeah? How the hell didn’t you see this coming? That Pearl had completely misinterpreted what I meant?”

Garnet sighs and removes her visor, gazing at you with her trio of multicolored eyes.

“You know I see possible and probable futures, not certain ones. I didn’t...see things going like this,” she finishes, putting her glasses back on. You roll your eyes, but you realize she’s right- it was just a giant, dumb misunderstanding. Granted, Pearl could have actually  _ asked  _ you to clarify everything instead of immediately assuming, but...

“Ok. Here’s what’s  gonna happen,” you say sternly, addressing the group. Pearl casts her gaze downward, and you avoid looking at her all together. 

“I’m going to go find Spinel, whom I care about deeply. I don’t care what any of you think, so please just let me find her.”

Steven steps forward, placing a hand on your shoulder. “We’re not going to stop you, Y/n. Is there any way we can help?”

You give him a small smile and glance up at the  forested hill you had traversed down to get back to the boardwalk. 

“Well, I could use a lift...”

** _x * x * x * x * x _ **

After going through the various options of transport, you all decide the safest for you is the small ship that Pearl had been piloting earlier, much to your disappointment. You didn’t really want to be alone with her right now, but you had no choice.

You climb into the small opening and give Pearl a  grimace of a smile. 

_ “Can only hope Spinel isn’t too far away...” _

Pearl sends the ship straight up, and you  have to grab onto the surrounding seats to keep your balance. 

“Geez, careful,” you mumble, righting yourself once the ship has steadied.

“Sorry.”

You sigh and roll your eyes, deciding now is not the time to press any issues you have with her. Your focus needs to be finding Spinel- fast.

The ship crests over the top of the hill, and you look towards the way you came, back towards the injector. No pink Gem, as far as you can tell.

“Y/n, look...”

Pearl calls you over softly, pointing out her side of the small circular ship. 

“She’s on Rose’s hill,” the Gem remarks, a faraway look in her eyes.

“Pearl, can you... please bring me there? Not too close, and don’t let her see the ship,” you direct, and Pearl follows your request immediately. She pilots the ship expertly, landing at the base of the hill. 

You clamber out awkwardly, earning a fond smile from Pearl.

“I really am sorry,” she retorts stiffly, before flying away and leaving you to your own devices. You watch her leave for a moment, hoping that no lasting damage had been done to your friendship. Turning towards the hill, you take a deep breath and begin the climb.

_ “My journey with her began at the base of a hill. I suppose this is only fitting.” _

You stare at the back of Spinel’s form, much as you had this morning before you’d left the island. She’s perched on a rock, staring at something in her hands, presumably the rejuvenator. You don’t want to startle her, so you wait to approach a moment, observing from afar.

After a moment, she heaves a loud sigh, loud enough for you to hear from your place slightly downhill. She gazes forlornly out over the  city and moves closer to the cliffs edge.

Your eyes go wide, and suddenly there’s only one thought in your head.

_ “She’s going to try to shatter herself off the side of the cliff.” _

_ “ _ Spinel!!” you screech, rushing forward, a hand  outstretched .

Spinel jumps back in surprise, clutching the rejuvenator to her chest.

“Y/n?! What are you d- doin up here?” she asks, eyes going wide.

“What do you think? I’m coming after you, Spinel. I wanted to explain-”

“Oh, don’t bother. Heard  everythin ’ you had to say.”

You roll your eyes. “That’s the thing though, you didn’t. I said one sentence and they all assumed what they wanted to assume, because none of them really wanted to believe that I could have learned to care for you so quickly. But they were  _ wrong.” _

Spinel turns back to face the city, and the cliff’s edge. “Yeah, well. Can’t say I blame ‘ em . Pretty damn unlikely, you and I.”

Your face blanches as she stands on the precipice, and there’s only one thing you can think to do. 

“Spinel, please, please don’t!”

You dart between her and the cliff’s edge, making sure you have proper footing. 

“Please don’t jump... please don’t go and leave me...”

Spinel glances behind you and then meets your eyes, one eyebrow raising.

“What... did you think I was  gonna do?”

“J-jump, and... try to shatter yourself,” you stutter out, tears forming in the corners of your eyes.

Spinel sighs and turns away from you, plopping back down on the rock she had been sitting on earlier.

“No, doll, I... considered it, but I’m not that eager to cease to exist. I just thought...”

She trails off and glances at the rejuvenator in her hand.

“Thought it might be easier on everyone if I went back to the way I was before. Cheery, fun...”

“...Stupid?” you offer with a small smile, recalling another time she’d compared her current form to her previous.

The joke doesn’t take, and Spinel rolls her eyes. “Yeah, whatever. Just... something that’s not me. I want to forget. I can’t... I don’t want to live with all these painful memories anymore.”

Her voice cracks on the last word and she breaks into silent tears, burying her face in her hands.

“I’ve just d-done so much wrong here. I just want t-to start over.”

You gaze sadly at the Gem you’ve come to care about so much, and wish you had the magic words to make everything better, to help her see the value in herself. But you had no such words, and could only offer what you knew.

“Spinel.”

You touch her shoulder gingerly as you say her name, and sit next to her on the rock, wishing you could just hug her right here. But you suspect she might need some space.

“Spinel, I won’t lie, you’ve messed up a couple times.”

A sob wracks her body, and your heart just about breaks right then and there.

You hurry and continue, “You’ve messed  up but you’ve also grown so much! You’ve learned from those mistakes and are bettering yourself through them. Just like humans do. Humans constantly learn and change, our entire lives. It’s part of why Rose loved this world so much, I think.”

“And you don’t need to worry about everyone else, I sorted everything out with that. We’ll need to talk more later, but for now... they’re not going to do anything to you, or attack us, or send you somewhere else.”

At that, Spinel finally lifts her head. “Yeah?” she asks hopefully, wiping away a tear.

“Yeah,” you say gently, taking the opportunity to move the  rejuvenator from her hand to the ground, replacing it with your own hands.

“And we can have... a life here, Spinel. We can do all those fun things we talked about, and you can see snow, and... isn’t that just exciting?” 

Spinel sniffs once and sits up slowly, turning not to the city, but to you.

“Yeah. It’s amazing,” she says softly, cupping your face in her hand. You lean into her familiar touch, blinking away a few tears.

She pulls you to her shoulder gently, and you rest your head on your favorite spot, snuggling in close.

The two of you gaze out over Beach City as the sun sets on the horizon, illuminating the faint pink ocean into a brilliant magenta.

“Hey, Y/n?” Spinel asks shyly.

“Yeah?”

“...I love you.”

Well. That was unexpected.

“I love you too, Spinel.”


	10. Epilogue: Here We Are In The Future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are, guys. 61 thousand+ words later, the end of Pas de Deux.  
But! It is not the end of your story with Spinel. In the future I’ll be releasing a nsfw one-shot entitled La Petit Mort.  
And… I have a second multi-chapter fic planned as a continuation of this story. Not sure when that one will start coming out, but most likely sometime in late winter/early spring! I just want to thank all of you so so much for sticking with me and this story for as long as you have. It’s been so fun to write, even through the tougher chapters.  
So, again, thank you. And enjoy this last chapter of Pas de Deux <3

The weeks following your return hadn’t exactly been easy. Everyone needed a while to adjust... especially Spinel. Bismuth had been kind enough to offer Spinel an apartment in Little Homeworld, but... well, she wasn’t quite ready to be on her own yet, especially around so many strangers. Not that you could blame her, of course. You knew there would need to be a time in the future where she worked on these things, but for now you were happy to get her through the hardest parts. So for now she had been staying in your little summer rental just off the boardwalk. It was downright cozy, and god was it nice to sleep in a bed again. In fact, after everything had been settled after those first few days back, you and spinel had barely left the apartment. You spent a lot of time catching up on sleep and hygiene, and Spinel seemed to spend her time... relishing in the fact that she could be there, holding you. 

After a week or so, you had decided you needed to pick up the café job once more in order to be a basic human adult and pay rent. Thankfully both your landlord and boss had been forgiving about the whole being kidnapped situation, and gratefully your boss took you back on board. It took a little bit to get back in the swing of things, but you adjusted pretty well. And surprisingly, Spinel had begun to adjust too. You had been concerned with what she would do while you were working shifts, especially longer ones. But she was perfectly content to accompany you, sitting at a table in the corner, perusing through a book from your apartment or learning how to use your phone that you would lend her if she didn’t feel like reading (a phone Greg had graciously paid for a week or so after your return, despite your protests- you had lost it sometime between the injector flooding the city and Spinel grabbing you). 

There were times you could tell she felt awkward, especially if Steven or one of the other Crystal Gems came in. Though it was usually just Steven or Amethyst, as Garnet and Pearl still seemed hell-bent on avoiding the two of you. Whenever Steven or Amethyst came in, you could see Spinel visibly recoil, trying to hide herself even further into the corner of the room. You often wondered if Steven would ever try to talk to Spinel... or if anyone would, for that matter. 

Fortunately, you hadn’t had to worry about that for too long. It probably shouldn’t have surprised you that Lapis, Bismuth and Peridot- AKA the “Attack Steven” team- had been fairly quick to forgive Spinel after all was said and done. Once Little Homeworld construction had finished, they had started visiting the café, and Peridot was quite quick to notice Spinel there every time they came in. Eventually they had all started sitting down with her for a few hours, a couple times a week. From what Spinel told you, it seemed like they mostly talked about Earth things; Peridot insisting on showing the pink Gem how the phone worked, even though you had already taught her a lot of the basics. But you could tell Spinel was perfectly happy to let them talk to her and show her things- you could imagine it was a huge relief that she wasn’t being shunned completely. 

It was such a great feeling to see her there, while you were working, whether she was alone or with the New CG’s. Especially during busier times... you would glance up at her, and she would meet your eyes and give a smile, and your heart would start pounding so loudly you were sure the customers in line could hear it. You’d catch her staring at you sometimes too, when she thought you were busy. It was nice to know that even back here, around everyone, she still cared for you like she had on your island of paradise. 

And honestly, that’s how you had come to think of your stay with Spinel. It hadn’t begun in the best of ways, and there were definitely hardships, but... you couldn’t help but be secretly grateful that she’d chosen to take you to that island. Despite everything, she had grown from the experience, and you had learned just how much you meant to each other. You could see why the others would be weirded out by it...but you didn’t care. It was still new, especially being back in Beach City- but you were learning together, like you’d promised. 

As the weeks went on, and Spinel followed you around to your shifts, you couldn’t help but start to grow worried that she might be becoming too attached. You didn’t mind having her around of course, but you knew you had to establish boundaries early on. There was always a concern in the back of your mind that she would start to view you like she viewed Pink Diamond, and not as an equal... 

Luckily, Spinel solved the issue herself, before you even had to mention it. One day as she walked with you to work in the early morning, she stopped short outside the café, gazing up at the overhanging sign above the shop. 

“Spins? Everything all right?” you had asked, turning back once you had noticed she stopped. 

“Y-yeah, I just... I don’t know if I want to sit around all day today,” she replied, sounding slightly put off by the prospect. 

“Oh! Hey, that’s totally fine! Spinel, you don’t have to wait around for me for all of my shifts... I thought you were doing it because you were too nervous to walk around on your own, honestly.” 

“Well, at first that’s what it was... plus I wanted to be close to ya,” she said with a wink, snaking an arm around your shoulders and pulling you closer. 

“But after a while I just... thought it made you feel better, having me around where you can see me? And make sure I’m not... doin’ anything I shouldn’t be doing, or somethin’,” she continued, mumbling the last part slightly. 

“Hmm... well, I understand where you’re coming from,” you had replied tentatively, wanting to phrase everything correctly, “but I do trust you, just so you know. And I don’t want you to feel like you’re stuck in one place- or that I’m making you wait for me.” 

You gave her a pointed look, and she gave a nervous smile in return, removing her arm from your shoulders to scratch the back of her head. 

“Heh, you’re not making me wait, doll. It’s just my own conflicting feelings getting' the better of me I guess. But!” she interjected suddenly, causing you to startle slightly, “Now that I’ve told ya, think it would be ok for me to check out some other places around town? Bismuth has been wantin’ me to visit Little Homeworld so they can show me around properly, and take me to that apartment they reserved for me. I still want to stay with you if that’s ok... but it would be neat to see everything!” 

She beamed down at you with gleaming eyes, an excited grin growing on her face the more she talked. 

“How can I say no to that face?” you had replied, reaching up to kiss her cheek. “That sounds fun, Spins. Really, you should feel free to do whatever you want with your time! And on my next day off we can explore together?” 

“Of course! Peridot and the others want to show you around, too!” 

You raised your eyebrows at this- it was the first you had heard of it. Before everything had happened, Amethyst had been the one to suggest giving you a tour... but aside from her slightly stilted visits to the café, you hadn’t heard about her wanting to continue that plan. So hearing that the New Crystal Gems wanted to show you around... well, if the others were going to snub you, maybe you could find a new friend group to hang out with. 

“I’d love that,” you replied earnestly, taking her hand in yours to give it a quick squeeze. “But alas, for now I must go work. And you go have fun!” 

Spinel grinned once more, and gave you a quick tight hug before racing off down the boardwalk. “Have a good day, doll! I love you!” 

Your heart had leapt at her words- you would never get tired of hearing that sentence from her. Since that first time you had said it to each other, it had been used sparingly. You suspected Spinel didn’t want to diminish the meaning of the words by saying it so often, and you were fine taking things slow in that regard. Still... your heart swelled with more love for her with each passing day, more than you ever thought possible. 

You shook your head and smiled, watching her figure retreat into the distance. Time for another long shift... hopefully the lack of Spinel wouldn’t have much of an effect on the day. 

From then on, for the next few weeks, Spinel would walk you to work whenever you had a shift, send you off with a hug and a kiss, and then just... live her life. She often went to Little Homeworld, especially when you had a morning shift and got off in the afternoon. But the few times you had an evening shift, you would get off work and find a text from her waiting: 

_ On the beach. Can’t wait to see you. _

Every time you saw that text- and it was always the same- your heart soared. Months ago, you couldn’t have imagined that such a simple thing would send you into such a state, but... Spinel was special. God, was she special. 

After you found her on the beach on those nights, the two of you would just sit and hold each other, watching the waves, or the lingering beach goers, or often times staying to watch the sun set. Spinel couldn’t seem to get enough of you during these moments- she would position you between her legs, letting you lean back on her. She would shudder and sigh when your back rested on her gem, and even though it was uncomfortable sometimes, you knew this level of contact meant so much to her, so you happily sat through the slight discomfort. If it meant making your girl happy... you’d do anything. 

As you sat in silence, your mind would often wander to the future, though you had been trying to avoid stressing about it for the most part. But the end of summer was coming up- you had a little less than a month left before you’d have to go back to Empire City to finish off your senior year of college. Part of you wanted to just... skip it all, and live here with the Gems, and more importantly, with Spinel. But you knew you had to do this, and besides, you were pretty passionate about what you were majoring in. 

Tonight was one such night- you'd had an evening shift, and had met Spinel on the beach as usual, finding her near the surf looking for shells. The instant she saw you her eyes brightened, and the backdrop of the setting sun made her almost glow. Your heart felt so full as you settled into the sand for your routine, Spinel encircling her arms around you and letting you get comfortable. 

But as the time passed, your mind drifted to thoughts of the future once more, stressing about all the change that was going to happen. You let out an unconscious sigh, sinking further into Spinel’s embrace. She leaned her head down onto your shoulder, planting a kiss on your cheek. 

“You all right doll? You’re rather pensive tonight,” she remarks, whispering softly next to your ear. 

“Ah, I’m fine, hon, don’t worry about me. Just a long day,” you fib. You could hold off talk about the future for a little while longer... you had time. Just not as much of it as you would like. 

“Mmm... ok. I love you,” she replies, nuzzling into the crook of your neck. You shiver at the closeness, and at her words. You let the calm wash over you and clear your thoughts, deciding to not stress about things you can’t control. It was just you and Spinel tonight, and you were perfectly content with that. 

The next morning, Spinel walks you to work as normal, and you expect her to rush off to Little Homeworld as usual- her and the New CG’s had become quite close, which you loved. You still hadn’t had the opportunity to go see them between work and spending alone time with Spinel, but you were hoping to change that before the summer ended. 

Today though, Spinel seemed to linger longer than normal, holding you tight to her chest. 

“Spinel? You all right?” you ask, muffled by her body pressed to you. 

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry doll. Just uh... mind if I sit in the café again today? You’ve been working so much lately and I kinda miss ya...” 

Your heart swells and you squeeze the pink Gem tighter before pulling back to look up at her. 

“Of course you can, hon. You can do whatever you feel like, you know that. Besides, I’ve been missing you too a bit. I always love when you hang out here.” 

You grin at each other, and walk in together. You give Spinel’s hand a quick squeeze before heading to the back to get ready for the day. Luckily today was a shorter shift, even if it was an early one- only about five hours, so you’d be out by the afternoon. Plenty of time to spend the rest of the day with your favorite person. 

You busy yourself cleaning and getting the machines ready for the inevitable rush of customers that will show up soon. You watch Spinel take her usual place in the corner, pulling out a book stored in her Gem. You smile at the sight, face flushing when she glances up to meet your eyes and give you a radiant smile in return. 

Not wanting to be reprimanded for being distracted, you turn back to what you had been doing, and sure enough, more and more customers start trickling in for the morning rush. The time thankfully passes quickly, and by the time the rush slows, you’re halfway through your shift. The bell dings as the last customer for the time being leaves, and you slump against the counter, hanging your head down for a moment. While the influx of customers may help time pass, it’s definitely hard work. 

The bell dings once more, signaling someone else entering the shop. You groan quietly before lifting your head, prepared to give a cheery greeting. 

“Y/n!” 

Steven exclaims happily before you can say anything, and you grin at the teenager, before your eyes slip past him to the threshold where three more Gems enter. 

“Oh...hi, guys!” you call out awkwardly, before your gaze flicks to Spinel, who has turned her head away from the front of the store, a slight blush on her face. You can only hope she’s okay with seeing all of the Crystal Gem’s in the same place at once... 

“Do you have a minute?” Steven asks, shooting you a hopeful smile. 

You nod and take off your apron, and let your coworkers know that you’re taking your break now. You walk around to the other side of the counter and motion them over to the side of the store, waiting to hear what they have to say. 

“Hello, Y/n. We just wanted to stop by to tell you about the party we’re having on the beach tonight,” Garnet says softly, “and to invite you to join us.” 

“A-and Spinel too!” Amethyst interjects, glancing over to the pink Gem in the corner. Spinel jolts at the mention of her name, and stands up slowly, slinking her way to the front to stand next to you. You notice she avoids meeting anyone’s eyes, until she takes your hand and seems to gain some courage from your presence. 

“Why now?” she asks, voice lower than normal. You raise your eyebrows and squeeze her hand as a warning- you don’t want to cause any more of a rift between you and the Gems. 

“Everyone’s coming who can make it, and...well, I haven’t gotten to throw one of these parties for a while. Y/n, you’ve been to a few of them I think?” Steven replies, giving you a small smile. 

You return it and nod, trying to be as relaxed as possible. “Yeah, and that was back before we had so many new people and Gems in town... this must be a pretty big party you’re planning!” 

You glance up to Spinel and she meets your eyes, her gaze softening slightly. 

“It sounds really fun, Steven. I know I want to go... what about you, Spins?” you ask her. 

She meets the eyes of each Gem in turn, before looking to Steven last, who wears a hopeful look. 

“Yeah...yeah, let’s go,” Spinel sighs, conceding finally. You catch a small smile on her face as everyone celebrates quickly before heading out. 

_ “She must have been relieved to be included,” _ you muse, watching her watch the Gems leave. You turn your gaze from Spinel to Pearl as you notice her linger in the doorway, back turned. She hadn’t said a word this whole time, mostly keeping to the back behind Garnet. 

But she turns back to face you before leaving, and simply says, “I’m...glad you’re coming. Both of you.” 

Before you can reply, she darts out quickly, leaving the café empty once more except for the workers and Spinel. 

You sigh and turn to your girlfriend, who is staring at the front door. 

“You all right?” you ask softly, circling your arms around her waist and gazing up at her. 

“Y-yeah, just... hadn’t expected all of ‘em to show up for the invitation,” she replies, still gazing absentmindedly to the front of the store. 

You tilt your head quizzically. “Did you know we were gonna be invited?” you ask. 

She finally tears her gaze back to you and raises her brows. “Oh! Well, yeah, Peri and the others mentioned it a few days ago...Sorry, I didn’t think to tell you. I guess I just figured Steven would just tell you while getting his coffee, or somethin’.” 

You smile and shake your head, taking a couple steps to stand next to her. “I’m not mad or anything. I’m glad you weren’t surprised by it for the most part, and I’m glad you agreed to go!” 

You turn to her and take her hands, being sure to look her right in the eyes. “I know this is a big step for you, love. For both of us. We haven’t... exactly been a couple around everyone yet, but I’m excited to show everyone how much I love you...” 

Suddenly Spinel pulls you in tight, causing your face to almost smash against her gem. Luckily you react in time and move your head over. The hazards of dating a Gem... 

“That means so much to me, Y/n. Thank you. I want... I want to be braver for you. You make me want to try.” 

You press your face into her shoulder, trying to hold back the tears that her words threaten to bring. You’re at work, after all. No crying on the job. 

Once you’ve calmed yourself in her embrace, you pull back and beam up at the Gem you’ve come to love. 

“You’re already the bravest person I know, Spinel.” 

_ **x * x * x * x * x ** _

_ _

That night, after getting ready at your apartment in your nicest summer clothes (and after working through some of the butterflies with Spinel), the two of you head over to the other side of town. Steven always throws a great end of summer party, but you are not prepared for the sight you see as you round the corner. 

A giant dance floor lays on the sand, much like the one present for Garnet’s wedding way back when. Not that you had been there, since you had still been finishing up college finals at the time, but you had seen pictures and heard Steven talk about it enthusiastically. 

But this...this was much bigger. In front of the dance floor was a stage set up with all the latest equipment, where Sour Cream was currently DJing- and by the looks of it, Sadie Killer would be coming on at some point later. A little ways from the music area, Greg, Lapis, and Peridot were helping set up the food station, which looked to be a giant buffet accompanied by some good old fashioned barbeque. Your mouth waters with the smells that waft over to you on the sea breeze. 

“Whaddya say, doll? Wanna go mingle?” Spinel asks, taking your hand. 

_ “She’s definitely different from the scared and angry Gem I first met...” _you think happily. You nod in response and she leads you past the dance floor towards Lapis and Peridot, who turn and smile as they see the two of you approaching. 

“Spinel! Y/n! You’re just in time for sustenance!” Peridot calls out in her raspy voice. 

“Oh yeah? What do you guys have for us today?” you ask, greeting them with a smile. 

“Just the basics, stuff we normally like to grow. Corn, potatoes, the usual,” Lapis answers, “and I think Greg and Steven are working on the main courses on the grill!” 

“Yeah, it smells delicious!” you reply with a grin, glancing past the buffet table to the multiple grills set up that the father and son are manning (with the help of a few other Gems). 

“Maybe I’ll finally try some food,” Spinel banters, half-joking. “Really though, it all looks so... fun! Nothing like the few Homeworld balls I got to go to...” 

Lapis scoffs and rolls her eyes good naturedly. “Well, trust me. You’ll have much more fun here. But it can get pretty loud and busy. So don’t feel bad if you get overwhelmed- I know I did the first few times we did something like this.” 

Spinel nods and looks gratefully at her new friend. “Thanks, Lapis. Still, I’m pretty excited to check everything out...” 

She trails off and eyes the dance floor, making you chuckle. 

“All right, dork, you wanna dance?” you ask fondly. She nods eagerly and starts to pull you away. 

“We’ll talk to you later, guys!” you call to Lapis and Peridot as Spinel drags you off. They share a knowing glance and wave, leaving you to follow Spinel. 

“Kinda eager, aren’t we?” you ask, raising an eyebrow as Spinel leads you to the base of the stage. 

“Well... last time we were at a concert together, I wasn’t exactly myself. And I didn’t get to dance with ya,” she replies, bending down to whisper close to your ear, “and you just look so damn good in that outfit... I wanna show everyone you’re mine, dollface.” 

You flush immediately, and pull back to look up at Spinel. 

“H-hey now, no teasing...” you reply, ducking your face away from her gaze. 

“Heh. Fine,” she smirks, clearly happy with your reaction. “But I still wanna dance with you, toots.” 

She grabs your hands and spins you to face her once more, a grin on her face that is entirely too smug for your liking. You roll your eyes, but can’t help but smile. It’s nice to see her putting herself out there, after all. Even if it means suffering a little PDA. 

The two of you dance to Sour Cream’s techno rave beats for a while, though you wouldn’t consider yourself much of a dancer. Spinel seems to think otherwise, though. She smiles happily every time you let yourself get lost in the music, and eventually you stop caring about what anyone thinks. Spinel does her own form of dance, being the limber Gem that she is. She tries to copy some of your moves, and actually succeeds with the majority of them, probably making it look better than you could.   
Well. She is an entertainer, after all. 

Around the twenty minute mark you’re starting to get a bit sweaty (and hungry), but luckily Sour Cream announces a break in the music- Steven has just informed him that the barbeque is ready. You and Spinel rush over with about half of the guests from the dance floor, mostly all human, and get in line for a plate. 

“Damn, this looks amazing!” 

You turn at the gravelly voice that sounds out behind you and grin. 

“Hey Amethyst! Fancy seeing you here!” 

The purple Gem nudges you and winks before saying, “And who’s your hot date, huh?” 

Spinel flushes a deep magenta and shifts behind you, as if trying to hide. Not that she’s hidden at all- she's a good head taller than you. 

You glance over your shoulder and give her what you hope to be a comforting smile. “She’s just teasing, Spins. She knows you’re mine.” 

You turn back to Amethyst and cock an eyebrow. “Right?” 

“Pff. Duh, nerd! Once you get past the whole trying to destroy the earth thing...and the kidnapping thing... you guys are pretty cute together.” 

“Y-yeah?” Spinel asks tentatively, stepping back to your side once again and clasping your hand in hers. 

“Yeah! I saw you on the dance floor. You were really tearing it up. Both of you,” Amethyst replies with a laugh. “Spinel, you gotta teach me your moves some time. Maybe later tonight?” 

She smiles calmly up at Spinel, whose eyes widen as she grins hesitantly back at the purple Gem. 

“I think you’ll have to loosen up a bit more,” she replies, wiggling her arms with a grin, “but... I could give it a try.” 

The two continue talking, with Spinel sounding more and more confident as the conversation goes on. The chat continues as the line for food moves up inch by inch, and your heart swells watching them talk. You’re so glad at least one of the Crystal Gems is making an effort. A few years ago you would have expected Pearl or Steven to be the first to approach the two of you in this sort of situation, but... Amethyst has matured amazingly in these past few years. 

Speaking of Pearl... 

Your mind drifts to thoughts of your once closest friend, and your eyes search the party, unsure if you’re hoping to find her or not. Your stomach jolts as you spot her on the other side of the beach, chatting with... a Pink Pearl? You hadn’t seen her around before; she must be a new arrival. You’re about to turn back to Spinel and Amethyst, when Pearl’s eyes find yours, and your stomach jolts once more. Her eyes widen and her face flushes a light blue, and she quickly turns back towards the Pink Pearl, but glances at you every few seconds. 

_ “Shit. I guess I _ _ gotta _ _ talk to her now. Can't avoid it forever...” _

You sigh and step between Spinel and Amethyst, who are still happily chatting away. 

“Guys, I gotta... go do something alone real quick. Spins, hold my place in line please? And if you reach the food before I get back, uh... just grab me some chicken or something.” 

You reach up to give her a quick peck on the cheek, and stalk off towards Pearl before nerves can get the better of you. You have no idea what you’re going to say or how she’ll react- she could barely look at you this morning when they all showed up to invite you to the party. You don’t know if she’s still mad, or just upset, or shy... whatever it is, this needs to stop. You don’t want to leave for school in a few weeks without fixing things between you two. 

“...And another time, Greg tried to fuse with Rose- uh, Pink. It was quite the sight, at the time we didn’t think fusions between Gems and humans were possible. Steven proved us wrong with that too, as he has with so many other-” 

You walk up to the Pearls, trying to be as non-invasive as possible.. You catch the tail end of some story Pearl is telling, which halts the second she spots you. Once again her face flushes, and she places a hand on her hip, clearly trying to show an air of confidence. 

“Volleyball, why don’t you go find Steven and the others? I’ll...catch up with you later.” 

Pink Pearl- _ Volleyball?- _ nods quickly and brushes past you, giving a small smile and a nod before she leaves. 

“Volleyball, huh? That’s an... interesting nickname, even for a Gem.” 

“Oh, Steven thought of it a few days ago...” Pearl replies with a roll of the eyes, “not his best, but I’ll come up with something better eventually. Can’t exactly call her ‘Pink’. 

“Guess not,” you say awkwardly, halting the conversation. You stand there a moment, just fidgeting, willing the right words to enter your head. 

“Y/n-” 

“Pearl-” 

You both start at the same time, interrupting the other simultaneously. You both giggle awkwardly, and you feel the tension ease, somewhat. 

You sigh and start speaking first. “Pearl, listen, I... I can somewhat understand why you were shocked when I came back with Spinel the way I did. I know it seemed like I was defending all her past actions and just writing off all the wrong she did but I promise that’s not the case. I really struggled with it for a while on the island, and I’m not saying she’s perfect, but... she wants to learn, and grow, and change. Just like all the other Homeworld Gems who have showed up since Steven dismantled the empire. And she’s making the effort, she’s made giant steps these past few weeks. Can’t you just-” 

Pearl cuts you off with a tight hug, almost startling you enough to make you cry out in surprise. But you keep it together enough to finish your thought. 

“Can’t you just give us a chance?” 

Pearl stays still for a moment, arms still wrapped tightly around you. A few years ago this would have had you blushing like mad, but now you’re just confused. 

“Oh, Y/n... I was never mad at you. And I haven’t been upset with Spinel for a while now, either. Not after watching how happy she makes you. I was just...” 

She pulls back finally, hands still on your shoulders. You’re surprised to see tears forming in her eyes, which she wipes away quickly before you can comment. 

“I was just so worried about you, that first day you came back with her,” Pearl continues, “I had no idea if she’d manipulated you into caring for her, or if she had hurt you somehow... and then I gravely misunderstood what you were trying to tell me. I made her- and you- so upset.” 

She sighs and takes a step back, dropping her arms. “The reason I haven’t been... around... I was just too ashamed, I suppose. I was brash with my assumptions when you got back, and knowing how Spinel probably still feels about me, I thought it was best I keep my distance. But mostly I was just embarrassed.” 

She stops speaking, though she seems like she wants to say more but can’t find the words. Her eyes are downcast to the sand, her gaze searching the grains for what to say next. 

“I guess I should just say... I’m sorry, Y/n. I never meant to hurt you or Spinel. And I’m sorry I got angry with you when you first got back.” 

Your heart lifts at her (admittedly long overdue) apology. Finally- this was all you had wanted to hear. You had stopped being upset with her a while ago, but you had wanted her to make the first apology, so you’d waited for her to come to you. It seemed that just wasn’t her way- habits were hard to break after thousands of years of keeping them. But still. 

“Pearl... it’s okay. Really. I can appreciate the fact that you were worried for me... and trust me, I know how it looked when my... kidnapper and I rode back into town holding hands. I can't fully explain It, but even before she took me it felt like we were connected, somehow. Even when she was rejuvenated. I just... can you trust me that being with her is my choice?” 

Pearl nods, tears once again forming in her eyes. She’s always been an easy crier. 

“Of c-course, Y/n. I just want you _ both _to be happy. Spinel... after what Rose did to her, she deserves that much.” 

“You’re damn right.” 

Both you and Pearl jump slightly as a voice sounds out of nowhere, and you turn to see Spinel approaching with a plate of food. 

“Sorry doll, just didn’t want your food to get cold or anythin’,” Spinel continues, moving to stand next to you. "Besides, I... wanted to come chat with ya.” She looks to Pearl, whose gaze flickers between the two of you. 

“O-oh, well, that’s fine! It’s nice to see you again, Spinel,” Pearl replies nervously. 

“Well, ya don’t have to lie, but thanks all the same.” Spinel’s accent grows heavier, something you’ve noticed that happens when she becomes emotional in some form. 

Pearl sigh and crosses her arms, slightly agitated by the provocation. “I’m not lying... I was just talking to Y/n about everything that’s happened. And how... I’m glad you two are together. Really.” 

Spinel hands you the plate which you take quickly, catching the determined look in her eyes. She takes a few steps to stand face to face with Pearl, and you briefly wonder if she’s going to start something again- 

But Spinel holds out her hand, mimicking something you’d taught her a few weeks back for meeting new humans. 

“Thank you, Pearl. And I just wanna say... I’m sorry for what I did, too. Kinda probably worse than you bein’ upset with me and Y/n, here, but... I appreciate you trying. I just want you to know I’m trying too. I know you and Y/n were close in the past, and I don’t wanna stand between that or anything. So... friends?” 

Pearl stares hopefully up at Spinel for a moment before taking her hand gently in her own. 

“Friends.” 

After a few awkward smiles, the three of you head back over to rejoin everyone, something you’re very grateful for. You’re not sure if you could have handled more of... that. Plus, now you can catch up with Steven and the others you haven’t gotten a chance to talk to yet! 

Spinel stays by your side the whole time while you eat and chat. She doesn’t say much to the group at large, but when Steven, Garnet and Pearl slip off to mingle some more, Spinel seems to loosen up a little. She jokes with Amethyst, Peridot and Lapis, and is visibly pleased when Bismuth finally shows up. 

“Hey, Biz!” Peridot calls out to the approaching Gem. “Where have you been? You missed our wonderful display of farmed goods.” 

“Yeah, it’s... pretty much all eaten now,” you add on, “but damn was it good. All of it.” 

“Heh, sorry guys. I was just finishing up something in the forge,” Bismuth explains with a smirk, “A little... welcome to Earth present, if you will.” 

You cock your eyebrow in confusion as she turns to Spinel, now fully grinning at the pink Gem. 

“F-for me? Aw, Bismuth, you didn’t-” 

“C’mon now, it’s nothing! I wanted to.” 

“Well, okay... what is it?” Spinel asks, trying to mask the eagerness in her voice. 

“I know you weren’t exactly built for fighting- like most of us Crystal Gems,” Bismuth says with a chuckle, “and I remember you telling us once that you don’t have a weapon of your own, which is why you nicked that rejuvenator in the first place. And I know it’s not like we have much fighting left to do, but...” 

Bismuth pulls an object from her smock’s pocket and holds it out for Spinel to inspect. She takes it tentatively, curiously inspecting it for a moment before her eyes light up. 

“Oh my stars. You didn’t.” 

Bismuth places her hands on her hips and laughs heartily. “Hey, you seemed like a natural with the thing, from what I’ve heard. Don’t fix what’s not broken, right?” 

You purse your lips together, still not totally sure what it could be, before Spinel takes a few paces back from everyone and pushes the button on the side of the object. 

On the side of her scythe. 

“Ohhhh,” you breathe out, fighting the urge to smack your forehead. You watch Spinel inspect her new weapon with wonder, and you do the same from afar. It’s definitely not a rejuvenator, luckily, but other than that small detail, it’s almost exactly the same, down to the gem at the top. Though this one is distinctly more... pink. 

Spinel makes sure she’s out of range of anyone, and she gives it a few test spins. Her grin grows almost wicked, her eyes wild, and your heart leaps in your chest. Now that she’s not threatening anyone with it, it’s almost... attractive to see her like this. You briefly wonder how fun it would be to train with her, fake fighting, ending up in a sweaty pile at the end- 

“So, you like it, right?” Lapis interrupts your thoughts with a bemused smile as Spinel sheathes the weapon. 

“Are you kidding? I love it!” Spinel exclaims happily, phasing it into her gem. “Best present ever. Well... second best,” she finishes with a coy look towards you, causing you to avert your eyes and flush, flashing back to the thoughts you were having moments ago. 

“Good. I thought you might,” Bismuth says proudly, “took me all week to forge that thing. Wanted to get it just right.” 

“Really... thank you,” Spinel says sincerely, stepping up to the group and meeting Bismuth’s eyes. “You guys have made me feel... accepted, since I’ve been here. I didn’t think I would find that anywhere else except with Y/n. I’m glad to have been wrong.” 

“Oh stars, stop with the speech and c’mere,” Bismuth teases good-naturedly, pulling her into a hug. Peridot and Lapis follow suit, encircling your girlfriend who looks amazingly contented, eyes closed. For the umpteenth time this night, your heart swells with joy. This is all you could have wanted for her. 

As you gaze at her, Spinel opens her eyes and stretches her arms through the cluster of friends and pulls you swiftly to her. You giggle nervously, hoping Bismuth and the others don’t mind the addition of a human. But they all join in with your giggling, until Bismuth is wrapping her arms around the group and lifting everyone at once, causing the four of you caught in her embrace to squeal with laughter. 

“Damn, looks like a love fest over here!” 

The hug splits apart, and you wipe at the happy tears that had begun to form in your eyes. “Oh, hey Amethyst! Spinel got a gift from Bismuth and then the group hug got carried away,” you explain, still giggling slightly. 

“Hey, that’s great! You’ll have to show me whatever it is later,” Amethyst says, turning to Spinel. “But for now you guys have to come back to the stage! Sadie Killer is about to go on!” 

Spinel gasps and rushes to grab your hand, excitement plain on her face. 

“We have to go dance!” she exclaims, and without waiting for a reply she begins to drag you back to the dance floor, a spring in her step. 

_ “I’m so glad she’s happy here,” _ you think, _ “I can’t ask her to come with me to Empire City now... can I? Not after she’s making so many new friends... _

You shake your head and follow her to the front of the stage, where Sadie is taking the mic to introduce the band. 

“I’m so excited!” Spinel cries out from her place beside you. You smile and wrap your arms around her small frame, giving her a quick hug before the music starts. You want her to know you’re excited to just be here with her. 

The two of you get pretty into dancing once again, and even wind up in a big dance circle with a bunch of Gems and humans, everyone taking turns in the middle to show off. You sit that part out, but Spinel grows bold and rushes in at the tail end of a song, stretching and moving to the beat. You clap happily along with everyone once the song and her dance ends, and as she walks back towards you, you hold out your arms for another hug. 

“Proud of you,” you mumble as she steps into your embrace, resting her chin on the top of your head. 

“Thanks doll... I’m just havin’ so much fun. I love it here,” she replies, and your heart pangs. You really can’t ask her to leave this behind. 

The band starts to play a slow song, and Spinel pulls back to look into your eyes. 

“Dance with me?” she asks, already swaying the two of you to the beat. 

You chuckle and reply, “Obviously.” 

You show her the traditional positions for slow dancing, and you listen to the song while gazing into her deep pink eyes. There’s nothing you don’t love about her face- tear marks and all. You move your hand from her shoulder to her cheek, stroking the black lines you’ve come to love so much. She shudders at your touch, eyes fluttering closed, and leans into your hand. A smile finds its way to her face as you stay like that for a while, dancing all but forgotten. 

As the song ends, she opens her eyes and gazes at you with what could only be described as pure love. Before you can say anything, she encircles her arms around your waist tightly, and pulls you in for the sweetest kiss you’ve ever known. Your eyes close with bliss and you forget where you are, all sounds around you are blocked out. 

There’s only her. 

** _x * x * x * x * x _ **

You dance a while longer before the band announces the end of the party, and Steven goes up on stage to make his usual end-of-summer speech. You only half listen, fretting nervously about the talk you know you need to have with Spinel about what the end of summer means for you. You grip her hand tightly as she listens to the speech, not that she seems to mind. 

Once the party is all wrapped up and everyone begins making their way back to Beach City or Little Homeworld, you and Spinel make the rounds to say goodbye. Bismuth and the others make you promise that you’ll take some time to come visit them with Spinel, so they can finally show you around properly. You agree readily, which makes everyone pleased, especially your girlfriend. You know she’s been wanting you to visit for a while, and you really do want to go, even if it means taking time off work. 

After you’ve said your goodbyes and goodnights, Spinel turns to you, her face slightly weary but still smiling. 

“Well, should we head home too?” 

“Mm... do you want to watch the waves for a bit?” you ask, hoping your nerves don’t find their way into your voice. 

“Sure, doll. You know I love sittin’ out here with ya.” 

You walk closer to the water and she plops down, pulling you with her gracefully. You get situated in your usual position, and stay silent for a few minutes as you gaze out into the dark waters. 

Finally, though, you know you need to bring it up. 

“Spinel... I need to ask you something. And tell you something.” 

“W-what? Okay... what is it?” she asks nervously, arms tightening around you. 

You stay facing out towards the ocean as you reply, “I don’t... know if you remember, but... ah, there isn’t an easy way to say this. I have to go back to Empire City soon to finish my last year of college.” 

“Oh. Yeah, I remember you mentioned you live there most of the year... why?” 

“Um. Well, I guess I just.” You swallow, your throat running dry, “I just don’t know if- I mean, you’ve been making such good friends here with everyone and I don’t want to tear you away from all this when you’ve just gotten used to it, but I guess I’m a little selfish and-” 

“Woah woah woah, babydoll. Calm down, take a breath, yeah?” she interjects, unwrapping you from her embrace. You turn in the sand to face her, crossing your legs underneath you as you sit pitifully in front of her. 

She speaks before you can continue rambling. “Is this about me comin’ with you or not?” 

You nod, still too scared to speak, worried your voice will give away your fears if you do. 

“Oh, Y/n... don’t you know by now? There’s never a question when it comes to me an’ you.” 

She puts a finger to your chin, lifting your head gently to make you meet her gaze. 

“I love you so much, doll. Yeah, I might be makin’ a few friends here, and I really like ‘em a lot. But the whole reason I’m able to do these things is because of you. Because of the strength you give me to go on tryin’ every day.” 

You take a shaky breath and steel your nerves. “R-really? You’re not... mad that I’m making you choose?” 

Spinel smiles gently down at you, moving her hand to cup your face. “Course not. I’ve already chosen a thousand times over. It’s always you.” 

You can’t hold back the tears that spring to your eyes at her words, and you lean forward to bury your face in the crook of her neck, silently shaking. You never expected this. God, you never even hoped for this. But this Gem just keeps surprising you. 

“T-thank you,” you whisper, and she sighs happily, tightening her hold on you once more. 

“Never thank me for lovin’ ya, Y/n. Never.” 

You sit in silence once more, this time simply holding each other instead of watching the waves. Spinel is the first one to break the silence this time, petting the back of your head before standing the both of you up. 

“Come on, Y/n. Let’s get you home to bed.” 

You walk hand in hand with her back towards your apartment in Beach City, heart full to bursting. You can’t wait to see what the future will bring you and Spinel. 

You’ll be ready for it. Together. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction...pretty much ever, unless you count that fic I wrote back in 2013 (which I don't). I'm really excited about this one! You can also read it on my Tumblr, and follow for updates (late posting, previews, etc)  
I also voice Spinel over there, for various commissions and reading her movie lines for fun!  
https://chaotic-spinel.tumblr.com/
> 
> Thanks so much for reading!


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